Gold Cup Event Coverage: When You Come to a Fork in the Road...
..Take the one that leads to an event! That was pretty terrible - but it's the best I can come up with... :)
It's like deja vu all over again - sitting in an icky, terminal surrounded by squawking children waiting for a plane. Wasn't I just here? Yes... but sadly, I'm not going back down to Florida this weekend, but instead I'm flying down to a magical place called....
The Fork! Sounds like a delicious restaurant, but let me assure you that it's one of the most prestigious and GORGEOUS farms that I've ever visited (okay - I've never been out to Rebecca Farm, but I hear it's stunning). Situated in the middle of glorious nowhere, about an hour and a half east of Charlotte, North Carolina, this picturesque gem is well worth the drive down (or up!).
Owned by Jim Cogell, a HUGE supporter of eventing & aficionado of Irish Draughts, The Fork is essentially split into two parcels - The Fork Stables & The Fork Farm. Let's start with The Fork Stables first... check it out. Drool-worthy barns, immaculate design, and impeccable landscaping. Look at the inside of the BARN (on the left). Jim was generous enough to let us host the first USEA Future Event Horse Symposium here last year and we all spent the weekend ogling and oohing and ahhing (and contemplating ways to spiff up our OWN barns). There's massive rings and open warm-up areas, all of which are very convenient to spectators. The XC course is fabulous - but more on that later.
Okay - the Fork FARM is pretty neat, too - they have hunting, fishing, shooting, camping, etc... all kinds of fun outdoorsy stuff. So you can come down for the horse trials and your significant non-horsey other can go play in the woods... everybody wins! Okay, I thought this section was really cool, too; just shows what kind of person Jim is... he's fanatical about land conservation. Which reminds me, the footing here is one of the BEST in the country, too... I believe he's very involved in the process as well.
Eek - okay, we're boarding! I'll write up more later about who's here competing!
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