United States Eventing Association

Liz Halliday Reports from Haras Du Pin: Will the Site Be Ready for the 2014 World Equestrian Games?

When we arrived in Haras Du Pin, the area of France was beautiful and the people couldn't have been more helpful, but it did all seem quite "rustic" for the site of the next World Equestrian Games, especially coming in after a venue like Kentucky. We were told throughout our time there that many things were going to be different next year, like the stabling, for example. Currently they are nice enough stables on hard standing, but in the afternoon sun it was very hot, so I am hoping that they will perhaps think about having covered stable rows instead. On the other hand, the staff was extraordinarily helpful and you could see where work was being done around the site. There were lots of areas in and around the facility that were already under construction and were clearly being put in place for 2014.

We found the site easily enough with GPS, but the roads to it were quite small and I question if they will have issues getting spectators in next year. My Aunt and Uncle were in Europe visiting at the time of the competition, so they came to watch (even though this was a 'closed' event, we were allowed a few passes for our connections to watch) and they made the same observation about access. They also found a lack of hotels in the area and those that were there were booked up already. If everything was full during the test event with only 44 competitors and very few spectators surely it will be logistically difficult with double the competitors and many members of the public? I do know, however, that they had a variety of people looking into investigating the practicality of some of these issues, so hopefully a solution will be found before next year.

The trot-up location, although a bit of a trek, was beautiful and felt very grand and appropriate for such a big event. It was done in front of the beautiful house at Haras Du Pin and gave a nice feel to the competition.

As far as the riding facilities went, we did dressage on a hard packed sandy surface in a big ring near the stables, and there was separate arena nearby to warm up in. The surface actually rode quite well on the flat, but felt a little bit “dead” under foot for jumping. In my opinion there was also not really enough arena space to school in for the amount of people and the grass that was available did not have great footing, but I understand that a new arena is being build down near the cross country for the WEG Dressage, so I am sure that this will make a big difference to the available space. I am also sure that they will put more effort into improving the ground in the grass warm up areas which will open up much more riding space to everyone.

On cross country day, the warm up was held in the main arena with a selection of fences set up. We then were ushered across the road to the start. This seemed to work quite well, and I would assume that something similar will be done next year. The finish and the washing off area, however, was very tight and difficult to walk the horses in and attend to them properly, so I will be interested to see how this might be adjusted for 2014. The course itself rode very well and in my opinion was a mixture of 1* and 2.5/3* fences, which I’m assuming was because those are the levels that the venue currently runs already. The first two water complexes were quite strong, for instance, but then some of the open galloping fences were more like 1* questions. There were more undulations in the ground than I had been expecting and I suspect that more is going to be made of those features next year. There were a variety of fences that would normally have been straightforward, but by placing the fences on rising or falling ground just before or just after those features made the questions more challenging, and made a good course that you had to keep thinking about. Otherwise it was a course typical of the designer which really encourages the rider to get in and attack it. I have ridden a few of his tracks before and I have always found them to be challenging, but rewarding if you get it right! I had a super round on HHS Cooley, who is a 9-year-old and has less experience then many of the horses there. He really gave me a great feel and we just collected 2.8 time faults which was mainly down to some of the undulations I think, and me looking after him a bit too much! I really think that he is a super horse for the future though, and I couldn’t have been more pleased with him!

When we got to the last day, we knew that one of the major things that the organizers wanted to test was the convoy system getting the competitors from Haras Du Pin to the Show Jumping venue in Caen. The competitors were divided into two groups based on our trot-up order, and we had to be ready in our horseboxes to leave at a specified time at which point each group then drove in convoy to Caen under full police escort! I must admit that I had my doubts about how well it would work, especially as the drive was 1.5 hours, but I was pleasantly surprised with how well organized it was, and the convoy ran with out much drama. The location that we went to for the jumping was not in fact where the jumping will be held next year, but I understand that it is only about 5 minutes away. I also understand that there will be stables available at the Caen venue next year, which would be much nicer for the horses rather then standing around on the lorries at the end of a 3 day event. The course itself rode tougher than expected, especially with the tight arena, but HHS Cooley really jumped his heart out! He jumped a clear round but unfortunately had 2 time faults which was my fault really. He is very sensitive in his mouth and I think I just took a bit too much time getting him organized around the tight course. I really couldn’t fault him though - there were only 11 clear show jumping rounds and to be one of them was great!

When it came to the officials and the judging, there were quite a few riders, myself included, who felt the dressage judging was very tough. This was, after all, only a 2*, and we were all beginning to wonder how it was going to be at 4*!! Cooley did a good accurate test on the day with no mistakes. Some things could have been better, but based on our test I had hoped to receive a score at least in the high 40’s and we got a 51, which left us in 13^th place out of 44 after that phase. I was still pleased with the horse, but of course we are always striving for a better mark and I did feel that it had been a bit harsh. Aside from that, all of the other officials that we dealt with were very helpful and accommodating and made a big effort to help us out. Getting accreditation, passport inspections, getting to the stables, unpacking the lorries – this was all made easier by the variety of helpful volunteers and officials.

My main concern with Haras Du Pin as a venue was the general lack of space and also how spread out the whole WEG site is going to be for such a big event. I know that there were complaints about the size of the place in Kentucky because it was a fair walk from one arena to another, but at least everything was on one site, which will not be the case in France. I do hope that they will put some time into the logistics of getting spectators and competitors to and from the event and that all of the improvements that they are making will make it the grand event that everyone wants it to be! I do believe that Haras Du Pin has that potential to be a great World Equestrian Games venue, and I am sure that everyone involved will do their best to make it that way.

Thank you to everyone for giving myself and HHS Cooley the opportunity to compete and to fly the flag for the USA, and for all of the help and support that we received when we were out there. We eventually finished in 12th place which I was pleased with and couldn't have asked more of my super horse as he tried so hard. I hope that this is just the start of bigger and better things to come in the future!