2002 World Equestrian Games

Behind the Scenes - The Press Room
by Mary Phelps-Hathaway

Our day begins at 7am, coordinating three people, and one bathroom in our charming apartment by the sea in Costa Ballina, one half hour drive from the Chapin center in Jerez. We are luckier than most, as the press hotel is a 1 hour drive, and with our own apartment at half the price, we can cook our own meals, do laundry, and enjoy late evenings in this resort area of southern Spain. Past the vineyards where the grape harvests have begun, for the world's best sherry produced in this region, we drive in to "work" where we are functioning on a maximum of 4 hours sleep nightly, and the adrenaline of covering the World Equestrian Games.

It ends, around 11:30 PM in the press center, after downloading photos, and filing our reports. For some of us, it is our 20th anniversary in the business covering the World Championships. John Strassburger of the Chronicle of the Horse, Alban Poudret from Lausanne Switzerland, home of the FEI headquarters, Chris Hector and Roz Neave form The Horse Magazine in Australia, to name just a few. For others like our own colleagues Astrid Appels of eurodressage.com, and Mary Hilton of Sidelines Magazine, it is their first, as veterans helps show them the rules of survival.