Looking at the Kentucky Horse Park’s schedule of events,
there’s always something going on at the park; shows, demonstrations, and
competitions of all shapes and kinds, not the least of which is the Rolex
Kentucky Three Day Event – easily one of my favorite events of the year!
Once again, Purina Animal Nutrition was proud to be a
sponsor of the annual event. To kick of the festivities, we were treated to a
course walk by Olympian and Purina Ambassador Kyle Carter on Thursday afternoon.
Kyle took us on a tour of the cross country course with great insights into the
strategy and approaches for each obstacle. While some obstacles have a few
options to take depending on the rider’s objective, all of them are a challenge
in and of themselves. Just walking the course is a huge effort so you can
imagine what that translates to on horseback.
I’m not an eventer myself, but I’ve developed an immense
amount of respect for what it takes to get a horse to compete at this level. To go from calm focus on dressage day to watching
them gallop through the lanes on cross country day is certainly a sight to
behold only to see them come back on Sunday and jump through the stadium course
with what looks like ease. Of course there’s nothing easy about a four star
level event and it takes a monumental team effort to get there.
