Las Vegas is always amazing—much like New York City is always amazing, but in a different way.
   
I arrived at 2 a.m. Monday having just completed a three-day clinic in Louisville, Ky. I’d anticipated traveling at that hour would be less crowded. I was wrong!

Delta was packed to the gills from Cincinnati to Vegas. The airport and baggage claim were both equally jammed. The unique “Congo-line” taxi line was longer than ever, but I’m always impressed by the smoothness and efficiency by which this operates and gets so many people into taxis and out of the airport. Of course, the “major-domo” who operates the taxi queue is quite a leader, assigning each individual to a station leader.

Las Vegas Events and the Thomas & Mack Arena traditionally put on as good a horse show as the country has to offer. This is their fourth World Cup Final, and it was better than ever.

This new, streamlined venue is built for convenience. Firstly, it’s within a few minutes of the town and the hotels. Then the stabling, warm-up ring and main arena all connect on a uniform dirt footing. There’s no cement for the horses to walk on. And, to top it off, the footing is superb. Proper stabling and footing are mandatory for the horses. Why can’t we in America always get it right? It doesn’t take a rocket scientist. And the VIP tent just isn’t what the sport is all about.

It was interesting to first watch the dressage veterinary inspection and then watch the jumpers. Of course, the dressage horses are supposed to have a brilliant, expressive, impulsive trot. And they did. Historically, jumpers have never been great movers. Most of the horses in both divisions got through, although a couple needed to be re-inspected. I must say the U.S. horses acted very fresh and jogged very sound, which made me extremely happy. Tuesday ended early afternoon with a rather comprehensive riders’ meeting.

Wednesday is warm-up day for both the jumping and the dressage. A simple figure-eight course was set, first at 1.40 meters then at 1.50 meters. All but a few people opted for the lower class. A few didn’t even enter the warm-up, McLain Ward, for example. Some riders, such as the Germans, just had an extensive flat ride. Some just jumped a few fences, and others put together a whole course. It really all depends on what that particular rider feels his or her horse needs. The course incorporated a spooky cutout wall, a liverpool and an oxer-vertical combination.

The dressage warm-up was really quite amazing. When two or three riders worked their horses together for a 20-minute period, there was a large crowd of paid spectators. About half of the arena was full!

Watching the dressage riders warm up, I was yet again struck by the fact that many (most!) of the horses are ridden over-bent. It’s apparently no longer the fashion to have the poll be the highest point nor the horse’s face on or slightly ahead of the vertical. Placing a horse’s head correctly is spelled out in the rulebook. Why is it not judged? Personally, I hate a horse to evade the action of the hand by creeping behind the vertical.

Thursday in Las Vegas brings two great competitions—the Grand Prix de Dressage and the first leg of the Show Jumping World Cup Final. It’s wonderful for our sport to have the best of the best (sans Anky van Grunsven this year!) of both disciplines come to our shores.

The Arena was not only a sell-out crowd but also an enthusiastic and educated crowd much like Spruce Meadows (Alta). Isabell Werth, a true champion, Steffen Peters and Kyra Kyrklund finished in that order in the Grand Prix. They’re such wonderful horsemen and horsewomen and great competitors. Kyra and I are especially good friends going back to the mid-’80s during my clinics in Helsinki, Finland.

The first leg of the World Cup, like the World Equestrian Games, is a Table C competition run over a Table A course. It’s a speed competition with faults converted into seconds. Unfortunately, many of our U.S. competitors approach this first leg in a defensive rather than offensive posture. They’ll opt for a slow, clear round or a slow four-fault round rather than take a chance. One had to be on the 60- to 70-second range to be in the top 10.

Having said that, McLain Ward and Sapphire demonstrated a brilliant, textbook round, winning the competition by a clear margin for the United States. It was a round no one will soon forget. I must also commend Lauren Hough for finishing in the top 10.

It’s a pleasure to see the strong, seasoned German and Swiss riders approach this course with such confidence and consistency. They had seven out of the top 10 placings. That kind of horsemanship, preparation and riding I call true professionalism. Unfortunately, one of our great hopes, Beezie Madden, had a fluky fall at the fifth fence. But that’s show jumping.

Guilherme Jorge’s course was truly wonderful. He presented a spooky wall to an oxer, one stride off the in-gate, early in the course, a liverpool, plus three inside turn options that were most difficult. McLain and Marcus Ehning were the only two that attempted all of the difficult options.

Friday was a very big day and brought to the arena national dressage, the B-Final of the Dressage World Cup (those who do not go the last day) and the second leg of the Show Jumping World Cup, which is a one jump-off competition.

Jorge’s course for the second leg was dead-on—big enough, careful, and very technical. He got a perfect result and brought eight forward to the jump-off. The course included a bending line, a rollback, a vertical-oxer-vertical combination, a triple bar to an oxer combination, and a plank, liverpool, skinny line.

Jump-off qualifiers included: one Austra-lian (Edwina Alexander), two Americans (Margie Engle and Schuyler Riley), two Germans (Meredith Michaels-Beerbaum and Marco Kutscher), two Swiss (Beat Mändli and Steve Guerdat) and one Dutch (Leopold van Asten).

Meredith and her horse Shutterfly are really in a class by themselves. Firstly, Shutterfly looks probably the best I’ve ever seen him. He’s in good weight, not too thin, and his coat has a real bloom. It all speaks of excellent barn management.

Meredith rides with such precision now, something she has grown into. She was always deadly against the clock, even way back on her California Thoroughbred junior jumpers. She’s clever and adamant about riding only “blood” horses, and that’s only smart.

Meredith’s career, due to her single-minded determination, should be a lesson to others. I take my hat off to her on a daily basis for her spectacular accomplishments in this sport. Her ongoing partnership with her husband Marcus Beerbaum has been the perfect recipe for success. She’s taken Europe by storm and the world by storm. They should absolutely do a book and a movie on her life—her particular life’s path has never happened before and will never happen again.

This show is brilliantly orchestrated and produced. It’s consolidated and packaged, and the pace never lets down. And it builds to a crescendo on the weekend. Let me congratulate everyone involved: Las Vegas Events’ John Quirk, Robert Ridland, Glenda McElroy, Stephanie Wheeler, Jennifer Killinger and Tom Keener. It’s a world-class event.

The Las Vegas Grand Prix on Saturday is for horses not entered or not qualified for Sunday’s World Cup Final. Again, the course was right on for this class. Michael Whitaker gave everyone a riding lesson on Portofino and won the class hands down, though John Pearce gave him a run for his money. Richard Spooner ended up a most respectable third.

Just to give you an idea of where we are in the real world of international show jumping, of the 12 U.S. horses entered in this class, the majority from the West Coast, we had only one clear round. All that tells me is there’s work to be done.

Following this class was the AHJF Hunter Challenge, which pits a European team of four riders against an American team of four riders. They all ride borrowed show hunters and jump two different courses. This is an innovative idea and really works. Hopefully, the concept can expand.

Thanks to Richard Jeffery who built the course and Diane Carney who supplied the fences, the course looked like a true hunter course. It wasn’t the generic flower show encompassing triple and quadruple bars.

The Americans won this year, getting even with the Europeans who beat them last time in 2005. Unfortunately, the competition was marred a bit by people who went off course and a few horses who didn’t want to play.

The FEI World Cup Dressage Final was certainly a grand finale to Saturday’s events. Isabell Werth is a true horsewoman who has a passion for the sport. Both of her tests this week with Warum Nicht were characterized by an effortless, forward scope. This horse is always in front of her leg and behind her hand. Self-carriage is displayed by the fact that the horse appears to do the movements by himself.

Sunday at Las Vegas is always devoted exclusively to the Show Jumping Final, ending around 3 p.m., so everyone can catch airplanes or otherwise leave town.

The final class is a two-round competition, over two different courses, not against the clock. Because of the points being converted into faults, there’s always the potential for a jump-off. Again, the Brazilian course builder, a master at his craft, got it just right. Of course, this last day is a bit bigger, but it wasn’t overly big. He got a perfect winner in Beat Mändli, and it was, in fact, a day for the Swiss and the Germans.

It was really too bad that McLain’s mare appeared to get tired and Beezie had that fluky fall. I was expecting a one-two punch, but it wasn’t meant to be.

George H. Morris