Cowboys & Indians / July 2010 / World Equestrian Games

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World Equestrian Games

They are coming from around the world. The horses and riders. The media crews and fans. The exhibitors and entertainers. This fall, the world’s most prestigious equestrian competition comes to Lexington, Kentucky. The largest equine event in U.S. history, the Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games will bring more than 900 horses, 800 athletes, 1,000 media outlets (NBC will cover the event), and between 200,000 and 300,000 spectators to the Horse Capital of the World from September 25 through October 10.

“Being the first time the United States is hosting, the 2010 Games are especially significant because they will demonstrate the move to globalize equestrian sports,” says Kate Jackson, vice-president of competition for the games. “As many as 60 are expected to compete, and it will be the largest number of horses ever flown overseas for an equestrian competition.”

The 2010 Games will showcase Kentucky and its important role in the horse industry. And the event will be a financial boon: According to Jackson, “The games are expected to have a $150 million economic impact on the state.”

Held every four years (as they have been since 1990), two years prior to the Olympic Games, the World Equestrian Games (WEG) are governed by the Fédération Equestre Internationale (FEI), the international governing body of equestrian sport recognized by the International Olympic Committee. While equestrian events in the Olympics consist of three events (eventing, jumping, and dressage), the WEG comprise eight disciplines.

Here’s a quick thumbnail of each discipline in the WEG and what the judges will be looking for from each horse and rider.

 

Dressage

Dressage actually means “training” in French. Specifically, the idea is to de-velop the horse into a happy athlete through “harmonious education ... it makes the horse calm, supple, loose and flexible, but also confident, attentive and keen, thus achieving perfect understanding with its rider.” Judges score horse and rider on a combination of movements and gaits; in the freestyle competition, the rider designs an original test of movements, set to music.

Driving

The idea here is to drive — in this case, a team of four horses — with finesse, control, and accuracy. On a three-section course not to cover more than 18 kilometers, the driver navigates through a series of twisting courses and marked obstacles, some which include cones set close together with balls balanced on top. The winner is the team with the lowest number of penalties.

eventing

A three-day test that includes dressage, cross-country jumping, and stadium jumping, eventing showcases the horse’s jumping ability, endurance, and willingness to continue after the previous days’ competitions.

para dressage

A new event for the 2010 Games, para dressage pairs riders with physical disabilities with horses in a dressage competition, which includes the crowd-pleasing musical freestyle event and special guidelines for these competitors.

Reining

The only Western event in the WEG, reining showcases horse and rider doing circles, small and large, in slow and fast movements; rollbacks; and 360-degree spins, among other patterns. Easy to spot: This is the competition where the riders are wearing cowboy hats.

Jumping

Jumping tests both the horse and rider over a course of obstacles, demonstrating the horse’s freedom, energy, skill, speed, and obedi-ence in jumping as well as the rider’s horsemanship.

Vaulting

In vaulting, a combination of gymnastics and dance is performed on a cantering horse, displaying strength, coordination, rhythm, and balance of both the rider and the horse. Vaulters compete individually, in teams, and in pairs, and are scored based on their performance of seven designated exercises. There’s also freestyle vaulting, which, like freestyle dressage, is a routine set to music.

Endurance

As the name implies, this competition tests the speed and endurance of a horse over a distance of 100 miles with at least five compulsory stops, so veterinarians can check the horse’s fitness. The course comprises loops of 10–25 miles, all starting and finishing at Forego Polo Field at Kentucky Horse Park. Competition starts at 7 a.m. The speed for the winning horse is expected to be about 11 miles per hour, and the winner will be the most fit horse and rider that completes the race in the shortest time.

Kentucky Horse Park

It’s the venue for the World Equestrian Games and one of the leading equestrian competition venues in the world.

With numerous competition facilities, the largest all-breed equestrian museum in the world, and dozens of breeds of different horses at work and play on its sprawling 1,200 acres, the Kentucky Horse Park is the only park of its kind in the world. Besides the 16 days of competition during the World Equestrian Games, there are lots of other horse-related things to do here — from horse-drawn tours and horseback riding to pony rides and live horse shows.

Part working horse farm, part equine competition facility, part educational theme park, this state-owned park was the natural choice for the Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games. “Being awarded the games is certainly recognition that the Kentucky Horse Park is among the leading equestrian competition venues in the world,” says John Nicholson, executive director of the park. “But beyond that, hosting the WEG has provided for a tremendous legacy: There’s the new outdoor stadium, and the new indoor arena has already been booked with a number of prestigious events.”

The initiative behind the Kentucky Horse Park is simple. Created by a group of visionary Kentuckians and leaders from state government and the equine industry, the idea was to create a “people’s farm,” so locals and visitors alike could come and learn more about horses, the horse industry, and the Bluegrass region.

The Kentucky Horse Park is also home to the National Horse Center, a collection of 35 state, regional, and national equine organizations.

For more information about the Kentucky Horse Park, visit www.kyhorsepark.com.

 

Come Visit C&I At The Games!

Cowboys & Indians will be at the Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games at Kentucky Horse Park, September 25–October 10. We’ll be at Booth 601 at the Trade Show Pavilion (with Vintage Revival). Come see us!

More To See At the Games

The 2010 WEG boasts more shopping and entertainment than you can fit in one venue. At the Kentucky Horse Park, there’s the Trade Show Pavilion and Village with cash-dropping temptations too numerous to mention, the Kentucky Experience for all things Kentucky, and the Equine Village for all things equestrian. With all that, you might never stray far from the park. But there’s more to do, see, and buy at the International Equestrian Festival, a 16-day shopping and entertainment event held at the Lexington Convention Center. Twice-daily demonstrations by horseman Mark Peterson, performances by country artist Templeton Thompson, and pick-up and drop-off for horse-farm tours are just some of the draws. For more on the Trade Show at the games, visit www.alltechfeigames.com. For more on the International Equestrian Festival, visit www.horsecapitalproductions.com.

 

Don’t miss Part II of C&I’s coverage of the 2010 Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games.

In our next issue and coming soon to our website:

• What to see, eat, and do in Lexington

• The International Museum of the Horse

• The blockbuster exhibit A Gift from the Desert:

The Art, History, and Culture of the Arabian Horse

• Kentucky-inspired recipes from award-winning chefs.

Issue: July 2010

Filed under: Travel, Outdoors, Riding