The Kentucky Three-Day Event has a gravitational pull that has drawn spectators to Lexington in the spring for nearly 50 years now. It has a special quality that brings many back over and over again. We talked to spectators at the horse park this year to learn what drew them here.
“It’s A Really Good Energy To Be Around”
Mary De Longis, Santa Clarita, California, and Sara Warner, St. Paul, Minnesota
Longtime riding friends Mary De Longis and Sara Warner made their first trip to the event last year, and they loved it so much they decided to return, this time with Warner’s dog, Capt. James T. Kirk, in tow.
De Longis said she’s been watching the event on NBC for about a decade, but realized she was seeing an abridged version of the action and wanted more. Over the pandemic, she became a U.S. Equestrian Federation member so she would watch complete livestreams from competitions, and that whetted her appetite to see Kentucky in person. Her old friend Warner, who had moved from California to Minnesota in 2019, was up for joining her.
“We came last year, and we saw everyone with their dogs, and we thought we should come back and bring Kirk with us,” De Longis said. “We had such a good time last year because it was all about horses. Women love horses so much, and women ride horses so much. It’s just a really good energy to be around.”
De Longis and Warner talked about the drama of watching Tamie Smith’s show jumping round on Mai Baum last year, and how the giant Rolex Stadium went silent as Smith tackled the course that would ultimately win her the event. The friends, who met in California working in the entertainment industry, were awed by the silence, the tension, the eruption of the cheering crowd, the drama of it all, and they wanted to come back for more.
Veteran tip: If you’re bringing a dog like Kirk along, the Pet Rover Run is a great stroller to get around the Kentucky Horse Park.
“I Just Love The Whole Eventing World”
Marty LaDue and Curtis Self, Rochester, New York
Marty LaDue has been making the spring trek south from New York for 13 years now, draw by Lexington and the world of eventing. A training level dressage rider herself, LaDue and her boyfriend Curtis Self—he’s been coming with her for the past two years—said they arrived a day early this year, both for the shopping and the extra importance of this year’s competition.
“I like watching all these pros competing,” Self said. “This year it’s an Olympic qualifier … and this is one of their last chances, so it’s a bigger deal than usual.”
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LaDue has a Kentucky routine: Shop on her first day while vendors have the full range of clothing sizes, then settle in for the serious business of dressage, cross-country and show jumping.
“I’m absolutely in love with Kentucky,” she said. “I just love the whole eventing world.”
Veteran tip: Shop early—on Thursday, the vendors still have a complete range of clothing sizes and merchandise.
“The Jumpers”
Paisley Miller, Baton Rouge, Louisiana
The Kentucky Invitational jumper competition that runs in conjunction with the Defender Kentucky Three-Day Event was upgraded to a CSI4* this year, and that was draw enough for jumper trainer Paisley Miller to talk her family and friends into a road trip from their home in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, up to Kentucky. With the likes of show jumping Olympians Kent Farrington, Will Simpson, Margie Goldstein-Engle, Daniel Bluman (Israel), Shane Sweetnam (Ireland), Tiffany Foster (Canada), Nayal Nassar (Egypt) and Rodrigo Pessoa (Brazil)—just to name a few—on the roster for the weekend, she and her crew headed to the Kentucky Horse Park to catch the action.
None of the group have been to a horse trials before, but they figured “go big or go home,” and they’re planning to catch some of the three-day action Saturday afternoon, before the big grand prix in the evening.
“I think the cross-country is going to be a lot of fun to watch,” said Abigail Becnel, one of Miller’s students.
“There’s Nothing Like It In The U.S.”
Lou Gorrell, New Smyrna Beach, Florida, and daughter Elizabeth Gorrell, Conway, South Carolina
Former residents of Lexington, Kentucky, the mother-daughter duo of Lou and Elizabeth Gorrell have been attending the event now known as the Defender Kentucky Three-Day Event for 16 years.
“When we first started coming, the stadium wasn’t here,” recalled Lou, sitting in the shade in front of the Rolex Stadium while taking a break between shopping and watching dressage.
The pair have their Kentucky visits down to a science: Shop on Thursday for the must-haves (including, for them, pins and the year’s poster) before things sell out, watch dressage on Friday, get tickets for the hospitality tent as a home base on Saturday so that mom can watch from comfort while daughter Elizabeth strikes out to spectate up close from different parts of the course; revisit the shopping Sunday before show jumping to cash in on vendor end-of-weekend sales.
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What brings them back year after year?
“This event,” said Lou, “there’s nothing like it in the U.S.”
And there’s one year amongst all the years they’ve attended that stands out in Elizabeth’s mind: “I loved it when Karen O’Connor [finished third] on Teddy [Theodore O’Connor],” she said. “She’s the bomb-dot-com to me.”
Veteran tip: Get two programs, one to mark up over the weekend, and one to keep pristine as a souvenir.
“The Riders Are Just A Bit Different Than The Average Person”
Kate Gress, Sally Nakanishi and Peg Vixon, Indianapolis, Indiana
Riding instructor Kate Gress said she has been coming to Kentucky for more than 30 years, and she visits regularly with her friends and students Sally Nakanishi and Peg Vixon. Her first Kentucky Three-Day Event was in 1987, she said, and the unique experience keeps drawing her back.
“The whole experience: the people, the horses, the dogs,” she said. “Watching the top riders, these word-class riders are just a little bit different than the average person.”
Gress has brought riding students, kids and friends over the years, and all three women said the weekend is like an annual reunion where they reconnect with people they don’t see the rest of the year.
Out on the course, local heroes Dorothy Crowell and Cathy Wieschhoff have been their favorites to watch over the years. Gress remembered the crowd going wild for Crowell and Molokai, who finished second in 1998, the first year the event was a CCI4* (now five-star).
The Kentucky Horse Park is close to home for the Indianapolis friends, and that makes it more special.
“We’ve shown here a time or two,” Vixon said, “and I get so excited that I’m riding where the big kids ride.”
Veteran tip: Pack sunscreen, extra socks and plenty of layers for cross-country day.
The Chronicle is on-site at the Kentucky Horse Park with two reporters to bring you everything you need to know at coth.com, so you don’t have to miss a minute of the action. You can find all of our coverage from the week here. You can also follow along on Instagram and Facebook. Be sure to read our May 20 issue for more in-depth coverage and analysis of the event.
