A Day In the Life....

...of a World Equestrian Games Volunteer.

Saturday, October 9, 2010
Day 15 of the World Equestrian Games in Lexington Kentucky
Day 17 of my trip which included 2 days in Chicago
Day 13 spent at the Kentucky Horse Park
Day 9 working as a volunteer

6:30am: wake up to the alarm because getting there too late on a Saturday might cost 1 to 2 hours of waiting in line just to park. I got some help getting ready...



7am: hit McDonalds on Man O War Blvd to see if the counter guy remembered to bring me my Kentucky Horse Themed McDonalds uniform hat (I've been in EVERY DAY since we made the bargain and he's been sick/off/forgetful for about a week now) but today's SUCCESSFUL! I traded a Kingdom of Bahrain Hat in White (kept the red version) and he was THRILLED! He doesn't wear his cap to work and has two of them anyway, now it's MINE MINE MINE!!!


7:30am: One last stop into the Walmart to collect last minute WEG items before I must pack them up tonite...they're pretty low on supplies but they did have some cool large post card sized versions of the Leroy Neiman official WEG poster...those could make good 'take home' gifts.

8:30am: Circle Downtown Lexington trying to find a parking space so I can get photos of the Horsemania Ponies around town (a whole blog post for later)



8:45am: Find a parking space at a meter that's broken and HOPE that I don't get a ticket while I run around trying to take shots of ALL the horses in a two block radius. I think I got them all!

9:10am: Return to rental car to discover that the city worker who's been dispatched to fix the parking meter has just parked and is just now looking at the meter, he looks back at me just as I open the door and smiles. Whew...no ticket today!

9:45am: Arrive at Spy Coast Parking lot (which is usually a pasture for Spy Coast Farm ) & discover it's packed! Today's walk will end up being about 1.5 miles into the back gate check point.

I will have to walk through all of these cars in Spy Coast

to get to the opening that will take me to "Camp Ground" parking...

Looking back across "Camp Ground" parking and then begins the hike through the lot...

and looking ahead ...that small white tent in the distance is the security tent

where I will open my jacket and they will search my little backpack...

and then I get to move on to the Volunteer Check-In Tent

One of the Sponsors of the World Equestrian Games is...

What in the world are Big Ass Fans, you ask? Not Big "Ass Fans"!

"BIG ASS" Fans!!!!

Then you check in and they let you know if there are any changes (which there always are but we never know until we get to the "meeting" later)...they also dole out the volunteer gifts: for me I got a 4 day gift of a WEG Pin & an 8 day gift of luggage handle cover (which I used getting all my crap..I mean stuff home...probably another blog post at some point). I didn't quite make it to 12 so I missed out on the cooler but really by the last day I wanted NO MORE STUFF to take back with me.
The organizers really liked us and took lots of photos, every day, and posted them in the Volunteer Tent...

...and every day Beezie Madden smiles and tells me to have a great day...

one time, in PERSON!!!

11am: I'm finally inside the park and have exactly 1 and a half hours to take in some of the Driving Event and thankfully the coolest water feature on the course is the closest event point to the tent I'll meet up with the afternoon/evening shift volunteers for our "Volunteer Briefing"

So here's a few shots of the excitement...

12:15pm: It's time to head back to the Volunteer Briefing but I'd like to stay right where I am. I've just gotten so excited about watching these amazing teams wind their way around this water feature making sharp turns and lots of circles...amazing...now I see why it's a competitive sport!

12:30pm: Final (for me) Volunteer Briefing. Since my assigned station is the Main Stadium and it's the final event in Jumping which doesn't start until 8pm, it's decided I'll work the info/program booth at the rear, or Camp Ground, entrance until 6pm and then move over to the Main Stadium after a dinner break at 6pm.

I hadn't worked this position yet so it was interesting to see the teams, volunteers and organizers go by.

2:30pm-ish: I see a familiar face go by on a bike but I'm in the middle of a Program sale so I can't holler at her. All week I'd try to figure out where fellow Seattle Volunteer Jill Hallin was working and here it is my last day and she zips past me on a bike. Huh!?

but thankfully....

3:45ish, Jill comes back through on her bike and this time I'm free enough to flag her down! We share a couple of quick WEG stories but end up talking about the SAFE Benefit Horse Show longer! Too funny...but at least we did find each other at some point during WEG...

5:30pm I take a dinner break at Walnut Grove for the last time. After two weeks of their food, I'm so ready to NOT have it again for a long time. Tonight's selection...BBQ'd Pork Sandwich...again for probably the 6th time. I had other choice but I always regretted them. I'm not saying the food was bad, just that for me I was never quite satisfied. Luckily we were given meal vouchers that covered $12 for each shift. It started off with Papa John's personal pizzas and your $12 voucher would get you your choice of cheese or peperoni and a drink...and that's it. I don't eat bready/doughy things as a rule because it hurts my tummy when it gets too full so I basically ate the topping and tossed the rest. $12 for some cheese, a couple of pieces of peperoni & a drink just hardly seemed right but by day 3 they offered me an "alternative" meal ticket which allowed me to go into the Walnut grove food court and have my choice of burger, chicken sandwich, pasta (another thing I don't do for the same "doughy" reasons) Fried chicken, burritos, salad (usually wilty by the time I got there) and these pretty tasty BBQ Pork sandwiches. As it turns out I don't really like most fries unless they're actually basic cut up potatoes, fried...please don't batter them or chemically alter them to make them curl...I'm a fry purist and sadly the WEG fries were battered and usually cold by the time I found a place to sit. But I figured out that I could get kettle chips instead and my meals became much less unpleasant. And all that was probably much more than anyone cared to know about the food selection at WEG...but basically that WAS IT...not just for me but for everyone, guests, competitors, etc...oh...and that BBQ Pork sandwich w/chips and a drink...$14.50 so each day I shelled out $2.50, which is still not bad...but not everyone had a $12 voucher in their pocket like me. I was behind someone who had a $97 lunch bill for 5 people one day...wow!

I ate dinner with a fellow volunteer, Ann, who I now wish I'd thought to take a photo of. She did take one of me and offered to find me on facebook. Someday I know I'll get this random request and realize it was Ann, who was very nice! She was not on that night but came on her day off to enjoy the games on her own without the limitations of a shift over her head.

6:15pm: I wandered across the road to the Main Stadium and my new friends/Vol-employers were already getting things together. I basically volunteered & ended up working the Info/Program booths for TRMG the UK (Great Brittan, not University of Kentucky that also happens to be in Lexington) company that produces all the official printed matter for the games. Part of my job was to sell their programs...the "official WEG Program", the discipline guides and the Daily Ride sheets. Our leaders were actually TRMG employees, or as I called them "The Brits" came over specifically to work these program sales. To my delight my favorite two, Mike & Charlie were just getting things set up for the influx of spectators for the nights event, the Final Four in Jumping.

So here's the Britt-Mobile...

Charlie & Mike found that if they got out with the programs and caught people as they were getting in, they'd get more sales....

...and meet pretty girls...

6:30pm - 8:00pm: Sold Programs & Daily Ride Sheet at a booth inside the Main Stadium.

We got to meet all kinds of people from all over the world there. One gentleman came up to me and purchased a Daily Ride sheet and the gal next to me asked where he was from. He replied that he was from Belgium and then turned the Daily Sheet towards us and pointed out Phillippe LeJeune and said "This is my son!" and beamed a very big smile. I said "You must be very proud of your son" and he put his hand on his heart and said "I am SO very proud of my son!" so I wished him good luck and off he went to watch his son compete amongst the top four riders in the world. That has got to be amazing.

What made the night extra amazing was that this was not just a jump-off between four riders, but also between their horses. Each rider would rotate through all four horses and so each horse and each rider would complete the jump course four times each time, a different pair.

8:10pm: Mike & Charlie packed up unexpectedly and announced that they were sure there would be no more sales and that we were all released to go and watch the competition. THIS was a gift to me as I had been scheduled to work all the way until 10pm. The other gift was from Mike when we finished packing up and he learned it was my last shift, he gave me one of their beautiful programs!

Bye guys, it's been FUN!

One of the cool things about being a volunteer was that our credentials got us into any/every event and we could sit anywhere there was an open seat or we could find a place to stand and watch if we wanted. So I made my way over to the farthest corner of the stadium knowing that it would be my easiest/closest exit to get me back to the Camp Ground entrance for the long walk back to my car. My feet were already done at that point & I just knew that another hour+ was not going to make them any better, even if I sat most of the time. two weeks of this non-stop WEG schedule was taking it's toll and my body must have known it was about to have permission to take a good long break. But THIS was an event NOT to be missed and so I toughed it out and I am so glad I did! oh...and this corner of the stadium also happened to be right at the Warm-up end of the arena where I got to watch all four riders take a three minute warm up ride on each of the other competitors horses.

The lineup in this Rolex Final Four was:

Abdullah Al Sharbatly from Saudi Arabia & his mare, Seldana di Campalto who entered the event having ridden clear in every round leading into the final. If I'm not mistaken he was the only rider to have done so during the games. It was also significant that this middle eastern rider was in the finals and was in a position to possibly win a medal because that had never occurred in international competition before.

Eric Lamont from Canada & his horse, Hickstead a 14-year-old Dutch Warmblood stallion entered the final night coming in the first place position after Friday's events.

Jumping super star, Rodrigo Pessoa from Brazil with his Mexican Stallion HH Rebozo was a true sportsman & excited to ride Hickstead saying that he thought he'd be fun. He came into the games with multiple Olympic and World Equestrian Game Championship titles.

And then my new "connection" having just met his Father, Phillippe LeJeune of Belgium and his horse Vigo D'Arsouilles.

I was very interested in the Saudi, Abdullah Al Sharbatly, for a number of reasons (one is...again...another post) but mostly because he struck me as entirely grateful for this experience. Each time I watched him ride in previous rounds he would take a final lap around the arena with his hands cupped in front of him, lifted and looking to the sky. My take is it was his thanks to Allah for the opportunity and for the glorious ride, which he obviously had many of that week! in Arabic there is a response to anything you say for the future...like "see you tomorrow" would be followed by "en shah, Allah" which translates to "God Willing" it's saying that nothing happens unless it is God's will.



Some might see his riding around the arena with his hands in the air as arrogant but I saw it much less about how great he thought he was and more about how great the experience was, because it was God's will. I got the feeling from the folks around me that they thought he was asking for approval from the crowd by riding like this. I saw it as a deeply personal moment that had nothing to do with the crowd.

In this round, Abdullah took eight faults on his own horse in the first ride but rode clean on every other horse.


Eric Lamaze was undeniably an amazing rider with a spectacular horse. They were very well suited to each other but I have to say, I fell more and more in love with Hickstead after each ride. It was obvious this horse was born to jump and that he LOVES & knows his job. Eric, however took a rail down on both Seldana and Rebozo, while also accumulating a time fault for a total of nine penalties altogether.

Rodrigo Pessoa impressed me with his sportsmanship. Just prior to Abdullah taking Rebozo out for the warm up ride, I saw Rodrigo coaching him on how to ride his horse with gestures and arms as he described how to go at each jump. I found that inspirational and was so disappointed when he ended up with 12 penalties: 4 on his own horse and then 2 rails down on Vigo. I so wanted him to medal just because of his goodwill towards the other riders. But it's about riding isn't it?

It was really interesting that each rider only had three minutes with each new horse to ride it in the warm-up area (closer to me!) and could ride over each of two jumps, but only once each. I think that added to the entertainment for us in the crowd.

In the end, Phillippe LeJeune rode all four horses clear with no time faults and won the Gold Medal. His last mount was the incredible Hickstead. When he finished the round, he was all smiles and gave Hickstead lots of pats and love. When he dismounted he ran over and gave Vigo hugs and pats. I was very moved by the acknowlegement of the horses for their efforts in the feat. He truly understands that this is not HIS accomplishment alone, he is but a partner in the team and he showed that on his team team especially it's a relationship even deeper than the partnership.


I read an interview the next day that quoted Phillippe saying that he credited his Father (the man I met buying the Daily Ride Sheet!) for instilling his love of animals and that his greatest wish in the world was that his horses could speak because he'd like to know if they love living with him as much as he loves living with them. I get choked up just thinking about this Gentle Man, a true Gentleman, who believes that horses are not mere commodities. It's not just business to him, it's a true relationship. I'm beyond thrilled to have gotten see him perform and have a small glimpse into his equestrian life. THIS is what I came to the games for....to see for myself what the deep hearted equestrians are like in real life. It turns out that, much like myself, horses ARE their real life! I know I would have been disappointed to come away with anything less in the way of realizations.

The riders returned to their mounts and headed for their victory lap...

There was one more honor bestowed and that was upon Hickstead who was crowned the Champion Horse for having cleared all four rounds with all four riders. While I live in awe of the riders, for me it's always about the horses. I was so pleased that they took the time to recognize the Equine Athlete as well.


But this was post was supposed to be about my day...and what an amazing close to the day...or so you think.



10:00pm(ish) I watched the medal ceremony and felt like extremely honored to be there. It turned out to be the perfect end to my World Equestrian Games experience but I still had quite a journey ahead of me.




10:45pm: The walk back was a tad emotional. It started to sink in that I was leaving for the last time and the following day would be the closing ceremonies and it would all be over. I was sad to leave, even though my feet hurt, I was tired and hungry for something good to eat. At that moment I didn't want to go home. I wanted to stay in Lexington and for there to be a World Equestrian Games event every day for the rest of my life. I made it back to the car and the parking lot was backed up as everyone was trying to exit at the same time. I had some more time to reflect on the experience and I have to say it was like nothing I'd ever done before.

To be among horse lovers every day, to see the many faces, to hear the many voices and accents, to know that no matter where in the world they came from, they felt the same as I did, that this was something very special. I think anyone who went came home just a little changed. Hopefully inspired! But this was a once in a lifetime opportunity for me and I am so glad I did anything I could to get there.

11:30pm: I rolled into Kitty's house and resumed packing my suitcase and sorting out what I had acumulated while I was there, Clearly I would not have been able to get it all home. Kitty sent me about 25 lbs of magazines and books that I drug home with me day by day so that saved me some space but in the end I was not able to bring back the Kentucky Ale I had acquired for Les. But I managed to make the rest of it all fit.

12:45am: I checked my flight and figured out that the 11:30 flight was oversold and my only option was to drive to Louisville and try to make either the 7am or 9:30am flight to Chicago. With a 1.5 - 2 hour drive ahead of me, I would have to make a decision to leave pretty much RIGHT THEN or try to sleep for 2+ hours and then hope I made it. I decided I would sleep on the plane and I finished packing and drug my very heavy bags to the car and said some quick good-byes to Kitty & Abbey.


2:30am: I hit the road and made a couple of stops for coffee.

5:00am: I made my way to the Cell Phone lot at the airport in Louisville, set the alarm on my cell phone and took a power nap.

5:45am: I tried to return my rental car but it was just a tad too early for them so I had to leave my contract

6:30am: After waiting in a fairly long line it was determined that I was not going to make the 7am flight but that I should be fine for a seat on the 9:30am flight. I had to pay a $50 fee for one of my bags being over weight (officially I think I brought home and extra 100lbs in newly aquired stuff ...probably another post as well!) but when I got up to the gate and finally relaxed my brain started thinking about getting home...and my mindset started to change. Now I was glad to be going home...but I knew this experience changed some things about how I saw my role in the equestrian world. I believe it's made me better.

Angels for Horses

One of the problems with trying to write as things are happening is that sometimes SO MUCH is happening that there's no time to write it all down. If I was a professional, I supposed I'd learn to take notes and remind myself later what I wanted to write about but I pretty much depend on sitting down and just letting the experience flow through my fingertips. And then sometimes you write something, save it but convince yourself that you posted it but didn't, and then a month goes by and it's still sitting there waiting for it's release, or maybe that's only me!? That said, I'm going to leave the rest of it in the context in which I wrote it back while I was in Kentucky. Hopefully some of the other post ideas are still solid enough in my brain that it will translate well here almost a month later....

Working the WEG has been exciting and exhausting all at the same time. In order to take advantage of the gift of access to the park, venues and exhibits I have to get their early if I'm scheduled for an afternoon - evening shift or stay late if I worked an early shift. Early sometimes means getting up at 4:30am to get to the park by 5:30 for a team meeting before a 6:00am shift. Double that up with afternoon (or evening events that begin at 7pm!) and some kind of evening feeding for me, and I'm wandering into the house at 11pm. Time to write is not usually on the top of my energy expenditure lists but I am trying to keep a mental list of things that seem "blog-worthy"...and hopefully I get to them all before I have a mental crash! Instead of notes, I've been grabbing brochures and taking photos. I have a lot of jumping photos and I lost track of who's who, but the horses are amazing!!! I will get around to posting some of those and writing about a couple of angles I've been following.

I have two days of volunteering left to do and I'm trying to organize myself for an easy exit on Sunday before I have to leave for Louisville to return my car and head back to Seattle. Right now I'm trying to sort out my brochures and the stack regarding rescue has my attention.

Specifically, the items I picked up from the ASPCA are foremost in my mind because I just visited their table located inside the side door to the History of the Horse Museum on the grounds of the *usual* Kentucky Horse Park yesterday. They gave out some cute horse faces on a stick with some information on helping horses on the back & told us about a display in the museum about the ASPCA and how it started as an organization to help horses in New York City. I hadn't known that about them before!

Abbey, the youngest daughter of my host family here in Lexington & the equestrian of their family, joined me for a day at the WEG & of all the things she could choose to see, she was excited to see the ASPCA exhibition because of her love for animals and specifically horses. She had just watched a show on MTV this week and recorded it for her Mom & I to watch just the evening before: The World of Jenks episode - Freedom's Flight focused on the work of 23 year old activist, Brogan who works with a group called ARM (Animal Recovery Mission) to shut down illegal horse slaughter operations in south Florida. As of the taping of the episode ARM had been able to help close 75 operations, many with prosecutions.

Obviously Kitty, Abbey's Mom & my host for the time I am here in Lexington has fostered a deep love for animals in her children. Just here in the house "we" have a large Chow mix named Marley & a large assortment of cats! It turned out that Abbey had a day off and had not had the opportunity to go to the WEG so we had ourselves an adventure watching Vaulting and the first session of Jumping. In between the two we wandered into the museum (mostly to use the good bathrooms!) and came across the ASPCA table.

We met two very nice women who told us about the exhibit and that the ASPCA had been originally started in 1866 by a New York aristocrat by the name of Henry Bergh who championed the plight of animals & specifically the cart horses of New York City. As it turns out the official seal of the ASPCA is an Angel attending to a downed cart horse so it's support of equine rescue seems quite natural.



As the story goes, Bergh, was a champion for animals and founded the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals in 1866 as a way to become a voice for helpless horses who were mistreated on the streets of New York but included the mistreatment of animals of any kind. In 1867 he created the first ever Horse Ambulance and later a sling used for horse rescue. Among his other horse stewardship accomplishments, he advocated to build fountains on the streets of New York for work horses to drink from.



While today the ASPCA is probably best known for it's work to help dogs & cats, it's eye opening that even back in the late 1800's there were horses who needed rescuing. It's not just a recent development in the equine community.Burgh's fight continues today and even S.A.F.E. has received ASPCA grants to help us help horses in need. I did find this poster quite interesting. This outlines the results of their work in 1909...clearly there was a huge issue, even then.

If it's hard to make out here's some of the statistics:
Arrests & Prosecutions .................................................. 1,936

Animals Suspended from Labor.....................................7,606

Horses, Mules & other large animals disabled
beyond recovery & humanely destroyed......................2,870

Small animals, homeless or disabled beyond
recovery & humanely destroyed................................222,468

Disabled horses, mules & other large animals removed
from the streets in ambulances..........................................921

Complaints of cruelty reported & investigated...........11,229

Calls made for unwanted , sick or injured animals....62,408

Horses examined on the streets and in stables to determine
their condition and fitness for work...........................367,380

Yes....the year was actually 1909. The treatment of animals has been a long standing issue and for more than 140 years there are voices in America who speak for them and are truly their angels. For more detailed information please check out the ASPCA's History Page.

Another Day (or two)...

I have managed to get up and out to the park much earlier the last several days. I get a bit closer parking place so I only have to walk about a mile! When I checked in on Tuesday, I mentioned the mix up yesterday and asked specifically where I should meet my group for pre-shift orientation later and I was told to go directly to the Main Stadium at my designated time. Since I was already planning to be there I thought this was a great idea!

I got to the Main Stadium's warm up arena in time to watch Great Britain's Carl Hester on his horse, Liebling II. I did get a few photos & a video on the new phone but most of my photos are trapped in my camera since my lap top will not read my SD card for some reason. So these aren't the best but they do show just how close you can get!

Some last minute coaching.

I liked this shot of USA checking out the competition

Competition time!

I tried to purchase a ticket but was told my credentials would get me in for free and to sit anywhere that was open...hurray!!! So I rushed in to watch a few riders before my shift in the Program and information booth.

Of course the rides were spectacular but you could tell it was a very Dressage-savvy crowd as the whole place uttered a quiet "ohhh" when horse bobbled or something else went awry. It was fun to be be there, watching these world class riders and their ultra amazing horses.

The booth I was working at was both for Information and Program Sales. My job was basically to sell the Official Souvenir program for $15, a Discipline specific book for $5 or the daily ride order sheet for $2. It was pretty fun and I learned a bit too but I'd say the best part (besides being just around the corner from the Big Screen, a perfect shot for quick viewing) was that I was working with this team of Brits who work for the company who prints the programs. They were particularly entertaining as none of them seem to have any knowledge of horses. I got lots of horse questions but was amused by their observation of American culture. They love Lexington and feel it's a hidden treasure that we keep from them on purpose...they love the people who are very friendly (and the young men find the southern girls extremely beautiful!) but they were totally confused by our money and didn't understand why we preferred to give out paper bills as change and why the 10 cent piece was smaller than the 5 cent or even the 1 cent piece...and I failed to have an explanation for that as well! "Dime", "nickle" & "penny" was something else I had no intelligent explanation for either...Anyway, it was a good and fairly busy day and I enjoyed it quite a bit but discovered later in the day that I had FAILED again...the ladies at the check in booth had told me to head right over to the booth but I was supposed to go back to the volunteer check in before my shift for a briefing so they thought I was a no-show...again! is

I did get to watch a few fantastic rides...like Edward Gal from the Netherlands on Moorlands Totilas & Steffan Peters from the United States on his horse, Ravel. I have to say I think it's been quite an honor to be able to watch these Grand Prix level riders...and I was not alone...

On Wednesday, I pretty much showed up just in time to work and did everything I was supposed to...my duties for that day were to drive an ADA cart between designated pick-up/drop points for disabled guests. That was actually pretty fun too. I got to see parts of the park I would not have on foot and got to speed around (ok...as speedy as a golf cart for 6 can go!) and was a welcome sight for the passengers. I did have to collect one gentleman who I watched trip ahead of me, hitting his head on the pavement. He was already up by the time I reached him but he soon started bleeding quite a bit so I took him the medical team and they scooped him up from me. I think he was ok...he was more worried about how he was going to get back to where I kidnapped him from! I hear everything went fine :) But I felt a bit like I was in a Monty Python movie...I'm ok...it's just a flesh wound...

So I have other days to write about but I've been getting home late every night and add a bit to this post so for now I'm going to post this...sleep....work and then try the whole process again! Enjoy!

How may I help you?

... I said many times today as I tended the WEG Information booth located in the Trade Show in-door tent today.

The day started out fine...Thanks to GPS I am able to locate my nearest Sugar-Free Iced Coffee anywhere. McDonald's, by the way, is sporting special World Equestrian Games hats on their crew...well...some of their crew. I wanted to ask the kids who weren't playing along nicely if I could have their hat (Black with the WEG Horse head logo in red and a set of yellow arches) that they obviously don't want....maybe tomorrow because I will be back! I'm sure that's why they call it an addiction, right?

So I got to the designated parking area and headed to the volunteer check-in area. I met up with a gal and we got to talking on the little trek over a few bridges and across a few fields. It turned out that she was also scheduled to be in the Trade Show Info booth so she told me just to come with her as we'd be working together. We checked in with the staff, got our "hero" cards punched and a cup of coffee and headed over into the park. Right about then the Ariat girls drove up and asked if we wanted a ride so that saved us a good portion of the fairly long walk. We got to the booth and introduced ourselves to the coordinators and other volunteers and I started getting to know where things were ...like "Where's the nearest bathroom?", "Where is the food?", "Where is the Friesians booth?" and "Where is Jane Heart?" OH hey....I already knew the answer to that one!

Jane Heart is an Equine Artist/Jewelry designer that I met online when we were planning the first HeART of the Horse Art Show/Auction last year. I went to do a search online for our event to see if it would come up and I got a hit on Jane Heart so I felt compelled to write to her when I discovered she'd done a tribute piece to Barbaro. Jane ended up donating a gift certificate as a silent auction item. Later, I was given a silver Barbaro pendant as a thank-you gift from the SAFE Board of directors and I wear Barbaro every day....he goes where I go! Anyway, twice I've tried to catch up to her at the Kentucky Derby but we've missed each other. Last week I got an email from her that she would be set up in the United States Dressage Federation (USDF) building at the WEG and to come by to see her, so I did take a break today and do just that! It was so great to finally meet her and she offered to polish up Barbaro for me. Meanwhile I was checking out her other pieces and discovered that she's now also done a Secretariat tribute piece, complete with checkered face mask and is currently waiting to find out if the Secretariat folks are going to license it. It's a great piece and now's a great time to pick one up as she thinks it will sell out. What fun! We took a walk over to the USDF hospitality room where they had several tables set up with samples and contests so I signed up for them all! Received yet another tote bag & tons of reading material. There was also a HUGE table of water and snacks so I was well cared for there...thanks USDF!! And it was lovely to meet you in person, Jane!!

But back at the Info booth...all hell was breaking loose. It seems we were more a contact point for the vendors and filled in with various small (and much easier questions from guests. I the turns out that the Internet was down for most of the vendors and so they were periodically checking in to see when it might be back up. Did I Mention that there are something like 300+ vendors there!? Ok, not all of them came up to the booth and I do understand why they'd be concerned but I did manage to repeat the answer so many times I could say it with firm authority! The 1.5 hours I was originally told turned into overnight, but I could tell folks with such conviction that they walked away...it might be the right answer to "How may I help you?" But it was one and it's all I knew so that was what the answer was....and *I* said so! (actually, I smiled a lot and nodded my head in sympathy!) ... no confrontations needed.

So it was getting to be close to the time I thought I was leaving (6:00pm) and the coordinator said she thought all the volunteers were staying til 8:00 pm. When she got a copy of the schedule, she said she could not locate me. I looked it up on email in my phone and it said 7:00pm so I showed it to her and told her I'd be happy to stay til 7...and 8 if they needed me to. That's when she said "OH! You're supposed to be at the other booth that sells programs!" Holy Cow....why did I listen to that woman who insisted I just "come with" her....something told me I should try to talk to someone about my first shift and where to go, but this woman seemed like she knew what she was doing so I followed her direction. While the two coordinators were gushing over the fact that they got me today and pleaded with me to please come back the rest of the week, I told them I had other venues to work at, not just the Trade Show...tomorrow is Main Stadium and Dressage. So I feel terrible that anyone at the other booth might be shorted but just about the time I wanted to call the coordinator of the other booth, my phone went dead AND everyone in our booth had to run off to do something to get ready for the internet connection fix so truly I was still needed but I would not be able to get free enough to go tell them in person how sorry I am if they were left stranded there. They were gone by the time we tied everything up at the other booth :(

So tomorrow sounds exciting. If I can get to bed early enough (like in a few minutes) I may try to get up in time to go see Dressage in the morning before my shift. We'll see...and we'll see if I actually get to work at the Main Stadium after my mix up yesterday.

Thanks today to my awesome "Home Team" ....Kelli who braved new duties to get over to my shop at 6am to rent kits (her first time) and to my husband who came after work to meet candidates after their last tests. And to Jean who's coming in tomorrow, hopefully to something resembling organization and will help get kits up to date.

So here's me in my Ariat Volunteer gear in a lovely light blue...two polos, a jacket and a hat! Love them all!!!! Thanks Ariat :)

A Free Day...and some of it actually was...

When I set my shift schedule I purposely left today open so I could get my barrings never thinking I'd have enough time yesterday to make a pass by the park and figure out parking and such on Saturday...which I did, so today I dedicated the day to getting to know the Trade Show area as that happens to be my first assignment post tomorrow.

Walking into the Trade Show area was amazing. There were things I didn't even know I wanted and things I had always thought would be cool if only someone would invent them...and it turns out someone has...and in every color you can think of!


So I tried to map out a route to hit each tent and I honestly never got to parts because there was just so much to see. Don't worry, it's now a personal mission to find everything there is to see but I can already tell that two weeks is not nearly enough to take in the entire WEG experience.

Walking the rows of tents was much like Trick or Treating for horse promo stuff, brochures and business cards. I hit a few tents before I was lured in by the big Isabell/Wintec/Bates signs. I got to sit on one of the new (not even released) Isabell Dressage Saddles. As I sat there discussing the features of this new saddle I pondered the necessity of purchasing a brand new saddle for The Nut as we were forging slowly into Intro Dressage. Part of me would like to outfit myself properly even if we never test above Intro B but somehow I just can't justify it...yet. The price you ask? Well....I'm told when they publically release it on 10/1 the price on the Wintec version will be $1299, but the WEG pre-sale price is $999 and they'll ship it home for me for free AND get a really nice, limited edition Saddlebag as well... temping....(note I wrote that in little letters) They gave me my first goodie bag, a tote with their logos on it and some toys & literature inside..fun & informative

That was just the beginning...I ended up with a couple more bags and lots of literature plus some free promotional goodies, like a hat from SmartPac, a pin from Ariat and a bale of hay...yes, you read that right, a bale of hay!


I stopped at the Standlee booth to tell them how much Coconut & I love their Timothy Pellets and told them the whole story about Coconut's delicate system. I learned the whole process about how they grow their own hay and can get consistent & quality product. That's always amazed me! He told me they go through the same process for their baled hay only it comes in 50 lb bales for a little bit less than the pellet and offered to arrange for a free bale at Dels so I could try it out. So I have in my hot little hands, a business card with his note for Dels to give me a bale when I get home. Furthermore, he was so touched by Coconut's story that he would like to have me write it out and send it to him for possible promotional use (good thing I wrote the Coconut Chronicles, eh?) Sending that to him right after this post!

I also had a great conversation with the folks at Back on Track. I'm extremely interested in their knee brace (in the $35 range I think) but I had recently read about these great blankets they make that help with pain relief for your horses. Their fabric is interwoven with polypropylene/polyester thread embedded with a fine ceramic powder. The blankets have shown to:

• Keep muscles loose between & prior to competition
• Assist tie-up problems, sore back shoulder & other muscular & circulatory problems
• Provide a relaxing effect for nervous horses
  

They also carry wraps and boots for various leg issues as well....plus they carry a full line of human braces that help with similar issues. Again, all quite tempting. Their WEG special is to purchase a blanket at the normal cost of $269 and they'll give you your choice of $100 in other product. again...tempting...

Have you ever thought to yourself "wouldn't it be great to have a camera inside my trailer with a monitor in my vehicle?" well...ponder the question no more because I met the nicest couple who have such a thing! Trailer Eyes is a camera that mounts inside your trailer on a C-clamp so it's movable and then you get a screen that looks and is about the same size as a GPS. There are just so many cool features on this one and for $259 (which includes free shipping!), I have to say this one would move to the head of my list...and I think that's their every day price!!

The boot-a-holic in me was WOW'ed by Der Dau, a custom boot maker. There were so many boots in so many colors with so many options I practically had to run out of there...it was very scary for someone like me who L-O-V-E-S boots! You want pink leather tall riding boots....you can have them! You want red leather paddock boots with alligator toes, you can have those too! You think it, I bet they can make it. While I was nosing around their booth, TWO women (not even together) were placing their order and the woman I was covertly watching was trying to decide if she wanted the leather or alligator accents to her leopard print fur paddock boots. I am not kidding! I couldn't even ask how much they went for but I hope to learn before the games are over. I got a couple of brochures but did not even tempt fate by trying on boots! After an experience like that my husband would probably sign the bills himself for the Isabell Saddle, the Back on Track Blanket AND the Trailer Eyes before he'd even think about letting me have my way in a place like that! But that's the kind of stuff dreams are made of...come on, you know you're thinking about your fantasy boots right now!!!

So after that I had to run to the comfort of Ariat. There were a couple of retailers carrying Ariat items. Ariat happens to be one of the main sponsors of the games (and supplier of the really cool volunteer wear!) so there is quite a selection of Offical WEG styles. What I was hearing today, however, is that there are limited quantities and the most popular items are selling fast and they WILL RUN OUT of certain items, like the polartec jacket (that I picked up today!). I saw a really beautiful reversible vest at the Dressage Championships last weekend, bit & leathers themed on one side and solid blue (but it also comes in red here) on the other with all of the Ariat and WEG logo info embroidered on. I came intending to purchase one but the jacket got me...as did a matching cap!

Ariat also had a really nice stand alone tent where they were not selling anything but were showing some of their most popular items and previewing items that are coming out soon. I'm loving the new look of a few of the collections they were showing, a plaid waterproof boot kept asking me to pick it up and there will be a matching line of clogs/mules and paddock boots as well. Then there is what I'll call a Euro-Inspired collection that has this very cool front zip in the tall boot style and interesting color accents! It's a whole new direction for Ariat and I think it will be a hit when it's released. Their tent sported some really comfy leather benches in front of two large flat screen TVs where they were showing the Endurance check in live. I sat and watched it awhile & thought of Monica who's here covering it. Check out her blog over at Horsebytes, by the way!

I stopped by the Breyer tent just in time to meet Shawn Flarida who had just won a gold medal in Reining. He was wearing his medal just until he sat down at the greeting table and then he took it off and laid it on the table. He was grinning from ear to ear the whole time. What timing that was for me! I did take a few photos but my lap top does not appear to be reading my SD card so that and others are stuck until I can get ahold of my SD reader at home.

Well, tomorrow is my first volunteer day so I probably need to get some sleep but I did want to share with you a couple of little tid-bits about the games: along with all the festivities at the Kentucky Horse Park there is a major city-wide party going on down town Lexington, The International Equestrian Festival with bands & food and other fun events. It looks like there will be something going on daily from 1pm to 9pm. I have driven by it twice now and it looks like I will need to PLAN to go there!

Also, I stopped at Walmart in Lexington (the one nearest the Horse Park) and ran into what appeared to be 4 different international teams. I don't know who's who, but they were together, dressed alike within each group, were wearing credentials and were not speaking english. I just thought it was kinda fun that EVERYONE shops at walmart!

OK, that's it for now. More WEG fun tomorrow!

My Road To the Games

It was 2008& Les granted me the wish of going out the Kentucky Horse Park on the Sunday following the Derby. While there, in what I call Disneyland for horse people, we took a riding tour of the park and our guide pointed out the area they were about to start construction on new venues for the upcoming 2010 World Equestrian Games (WEG...and no, not Wicked Evil Grin!).

When they explained what the WEG was, I was intrigued and wondered how I might finagle myself a way to get to come back to Lexington which was quickly becoming my new favorite place in my new favorite State!

In 2009, we returned to the Derbry and the Kentucky Horse Park with Jaime & Bonnie and the construction was well under way. We were told that they expected teams from more than 50 countries in eight events and that thousands of volunteers were going to be needed to make things run well. The light went off over my head and I knew at that moment I would like to come out and work as a volunteer. I promptly went home and signed myself up to be on the list to get updates about how to go about volunteering.

The process took pretty much the whole year when you include the sign up time and the checking back in and such. On my end, though, I had marked the entire two weeks off my calendar(s)...family, professional, social and otherwise. As we approached the volunteer processing point updates were coming out about lodging and the responsibilities of the volunteers to pay their own expenses. I'd counted on the latter but the notes circulating about volunteer lodging being available for $50 a day, bunk house style and hotels starting at $150 a night, I realized that I was going to have to come up with a better plan so I placed an ad on Craigs List in Lexington for affordable lodging during the games and introduced myself briefly.

I received approximately 25 responses to that ad and had some really incredible offers. A few empty-nesters & even an offer to stay at Thoroughbred Farm for $35 a night but two truly amazing offers came in....to stay as a guest...at no cost!! wow.....I was so encouraged by the warmth the community of Lexington and Kentucky in general had for this VERY HORSEY event. I'm sure it's part of what made it even more special for me and became more of an incentive to come out and participate.

I ended up hitting it off with one of the free room offers, Kitty. We immediately became Facebook friends and over the last year I have gotten to know her a little more by reading her updates ...and she mine. We had a much in common and it seemed like a good fit. When Les & I came out for the Derby this year we arranged to meet Kitty for lunch and I half wondered if she'd regret her decision but lunch was great and we seemed to have a friendship already. She was fun-loving & smart & that made me feel even better. what a very generous thing to do...and her reasoning was that it was like helping their local event by giving me a way to come and volunteer.

By early May, I'd had an obstacle laid before me that I hadn't expected. The company I sublease my shop from had lost their contract with the State of Washington and a new company was taking over Practical Testing for licensing and we had no idea what they were going to do or if my business (renting kits to individuals taking their Practical Cosmetology, Barber, Esthetics & Manicure licensing exams) would be viable any longer. In fact the original changeover date was set for September 1st and at that time I wondered how I would be able to leave with all that change. I let Kitty know there was an outside chance that I might not come if things took a more challenging turn but that I would do anything I could to be able to. I had little idea that the new company would eventually throw me a bigger curve ball and move the changeover date back one month to OCTOBER 1ST!!!!!!! Right in the middle of the games!!!!! There was very little interest flowing my way and I really thought my business was going to close at one point. I knew I had to find a way....any way....to be able to go to Lexington for the games and even made a contingency plan to move out of my shop on 9/16 and put everything in storage for a month & figure it all out when I got back. That's how badly I wanted to go!!!!!

In that week before my planned move-out the new company insisted they loved my business and wanted me to stay as a service to their new clients, but that only left me with less than 10 days to plan for coverage by my assistants. Some how, some way, I was going to make it work!!

By early summer, the selection process for volunteers was in full swing (kinda sounds like I was competing, eh!?) . There were applications to fill out now that registration was open online & interviews (a few of them, actually!) and a formal volunteer offer-letter that was sent to me. I had been recruited to the Promotions & Marketing team and would have activities that supported the sponsors by promoting their brand. Examples I was given was shooting tshirts into the crowds at events during down time or handing out give-aways at the venues. That seemed like a dream job to me! Meanwhile I still had to pass a background check & settle all those things at home. Then I got an email about 2 weeks ago that they had estimated that they'd need up to 7,000 volunteers and had run short so they were re-assigning me to a new team and a new offer would come in a few days. What if I was going to be in the parking lot? Was that the games experience I wanted? Not exactly, but I eventually convinced myself that it would get me there and I'd get to spend my off time at the games so it would certainly be worth it. The offer did eventually come and it was as an Operations Coordinator which meant I'd basically be set up in an information booth. I was sent to a fantastic website called Shift-boards where I was able to select not only my volunteer days but specific locales so I was able to get a nice mix of Main Arena, Equine Village & Trade Show shifts. Plus I scheduled an appointment to pick up my credentials and uniforms...wow, it seems they thought of everything!

It was about this time that my phone decided to die. Now I had been having issues with it for a few months but I knew that communicating with my shop, customers and perhaps the new testing company would be anything but smooth if I had an unreliable phone. To make that even worse, we were not due to get new phones until 10/1 and my scheduled departure date was 9/25 at the time. Les was able to get them to agree to give us an extra two weeks but not a day more and the Saturday before I left I actually got a new phone ... a Spiffy new phone that was going to allow me to talk to my customers, book their reservations online & stay connected better than I had been able to before....and take photos/videos and update my facebook...which could make for some fun while I was away! Thank you Les!!!!!

Another huge Thank You goes out to Allison from SAFE, who stepped up and offered to take over the chore volunteer schedule...not just while I'm gone but permanently!! That took a HUGE load of my plate and alleviated one of the worries about how things were going to get coordinated if I was away. Whew!!!!

Through all that chaos, Les & Corey informed me that they were going to Chicago on Thursday 9/24 to watch the Seattle Sounders (Soccer) play the Chicago Fire and had added an extra day to fit in a Cubs game at Wrigley Field. Since I was going to have a lay-over in Chicago, they suggested I come a day early & at least go to the Cubs game. Somehow that turned into them leaving on Wednesday night and pushing me to leave on Thursday evening...which they decided I was better off to come on an earlier flight and on the day I was to leave. That made for some hurried packing the night before/morning of my new flight & yes, things didn't go exactly according to plan but I got to Chicago (well before my suitcase so I stopped at Target to pick up a few things on my way to the hotel Thursday night), saw the Cubs, hung out with Les, Corey, Barb & Phil plus the Emerald City Supporters (The support group for the Sounders) before I left for my flight to Louisville Saturday morning the 25th. I left the guys still sleeping and took off, navigated my way across town to Midway Airport thanks to the GPS function on my new phone (thanks again Les!), dropped off the rental car, located my missing bag & made the early flight!

On my drive to the airport, it kind of sunk in that I was really on my way to the World Equestrian Games (I tell everyone it's like the Olympics for Horses/Horse people!). I started to get all giddy!! As we approached Louisville I actually got a little emotional...kinda like I was coming to visit an old friend...or home!?!?!? I tease Les that we are practically residents here with the number of trips we've made during our marriage and strangely enough every single one of those trips was about horses. Even in the years before I returned to riding, Kentucky was pretty much my only horse adventures. This place is very special for me and here's the message I got when I got off the plane...that just pretty much sums it up....