United States Eventing Association

I recently returned from the May Chattahoochee Hills Horse Trials in Fairburn, GA, and am still in awe of the hospitality and organization in the face of inclement weather. I arrived Thursday after an 8 hour drive and having never been there before, was thankful for all the temporary signs helping me find my way. Next, I was pleasantly greeted by the stable manager who told me the lay of the land, my stall number and directions to my barn. Although the stabling was in temporary tents, they had several large SINGLE barns spread out across a large field. To an organizer, this must seem like a nightmare. It means more portable water tanks (set up at each barn and filled every evening) and also means more wear and tear from vehicles on this beautiful private farm (more on this later). As a competitor, the single barns are brilliant. No horse is stuck on an inside aisle way with poor ventilation and parking is so close we could work right out of our trailer. While setting up my stall a “stabling secretary” was close at hand in a golf cart and a radio. She was able to tend to stabling dilemmas immediately without sending new arrivals to the show office.

Friday the heat persisted. Then the rain arrived that evening, and stayed through the rest of the weekend. The barns began to resemble a muddy “slip and slide” and the footing was quickly deteriorating. I rode XC at noon on Saturday. Let me tell you how impressed I was to find 15 XC fences in warm-up of all different sizes and shapes. We had a rolling hill, room to gallop, skinnys and even a ditch! In warm-up!! Again, I appreciate the extra time and manpower needed in the set-up. An added bonus was that with so many fences to jump there was very little congestion and chaos.

The first half of my division went before the monsoon hit. When the thunder and lightning started, a quick and smart decision was made to put all phases on a hold. After about 30 minutes we returned and started out on course. Nobody made time after the break. I am proud that we were all smart enough to slow down and ride safely, even those in the hunt for a ribbon. My mare was wonderful and came home safe, sound, and drenched almost a full minute over optimum. The volunteers were out in droves tending to take-offs and landings both on XC and in stadium. They stood out in the pouring rain for hours, and I never saw a single one without a smile on their face. The organizers did everything possible to keep the day running safely while still allowing all phases to continue. Their effort is very much appreciated.

With XC under our belt, I immediately began to worry about the next day and the footing for stadium. The course was set up on the grass and several divisions rode stadium on Saturday. I was desperately hoping the organizer would adjust the course to at least improve the take-offs and landings for the next day. When I left that evening stadium was still in full swing. The next morning I was thrilled to hear they had not only adjusted the footing, they had moved the entire course!! Imagine the time and manpower needed to take down and reassemble the entire course, all in the hours of 7pm-7am and after standing in the rain ALL day. Again, my appreciation was overflowing. Although my boots were still wet when I pulled them on Sunday, my mare went clean and even more importantly, was obedient and adjustable…in the snaffle!

As the rain continued Sunday, we began wondering how in the world our rigs would make in through the now, Mud River around the barn. Needless to say, we ALL had to be towed with a tractor. There were several tractors working to get us all on our way and again, the “tractor man” had a broken arm, was covered in mud, and had a smile on his face. As I arrived on the paved road, I was thankful to be on my way but sick about the way we left that beautiful farm. The hours spent in preparation for the event will now have to be repeated, if not increased, with reseeding, harrowing, filling etc. I just wanted to say a huge thank you to Carl Bouckaert, Ritchard Temple, Rick Dunkerton, and all the many volunteers throughout the weekend.

As I arrived home and unloaded my many piles of wet clothes etc. from my trailer and handed them to my smiling husband, he said “I guess you won’t be going back there anytime soon”! I said, “are you kidding, I can’t wait to go back”!