Here I am again covering an international competition for horsesdaily®.com. So, I thought I’d start out by telling a bit about the adventure so far. Wednesday was simply a day to warm the horses up and get them used to the Thomas and Mack Arena, which is where they will be showing through Sunday. This Arena poses some different situations for both the horses and the riders. It’s smaller than most other indoor arenas and the attitude is very Vegas. Before each competition there is a presentation of the flag, a singing of the National Anthem by some headliner here in Vegas, and some sort of entertainment before, in between or after the event. It generally includes a light show of sorts, with a sprinkling of fireworks and some loud “bangs,” meant to wake us up (and they do). Even the announcing is different – Vegas style. The feeling is as if they are putting on a show – not a horse show - but rather one of the many shows you can find at any casino here in Vegas. And you know – it works. It’s fun, it’s different, and it’s entertaining. There’s loud music supporting video footage of the disciplines just before each competition begins. And if you look around the arena, the people are dancin’ to the music, each with their own style; some sway, some clap, some boogie, but whatever they are doing they look like they’re having a good time. So, Vegas style is pretty good and maybe we can learn a thing or two from them.

The riders are pretty happy about this “Vegas” thing too. The Americans (especially the dressage riders) can’t believe the large audiences they are competing in front of and are thrilled. Matter-of-fact rumor has it that the dressage has sold more seats than the jumping and Saturday is a sold out performance. Dressage rider Steffen Peters isn’t competing in the World Cup but in the National competitions that are taking place here as well. I caught him at the schooling arena and asked him what he thought. “I personally think that Saturday could change the sport. It’s sold out and it’s going to be very exciting.”

Lately so many good things have been happening to showcase the sport that he just might be right. Even the TV networks are starting to broadcast more horse sports and the World Cup will reach a pretty large TV audience as well. If what we’ve been seeing so far is any indication of what the TV broadcast will be like, then there is real hope and Peters may be right on about the fact that the chance to showcase dressage in front of an audience of over 15,000 people is a real carrot for the sport. And after the way our dressage riders went today, with all of them making it into the top 12 and Debbie McDonald placing third and Robert Dover right behind her in fourth it’s for sure, “the times they are a changin’.’” What is even more of a surprise is that out of the 18 riders that competed, the top German rider Hubertus Schmidt, placed eighth on Aramis. I know I can’t remember a time when a German rider ever placed that low.

The story for our show jumpers was not as impressive and in the press conference our highest placed American, Kimberly Frey, who finished fourth on Marlou, made a very interesting comment. She was talking about the fact that not only were they competing indoors but the arena is small. “I feel that this is what we as Americans have problems with,” she commented. “Everything comes up so quickly.”

Kim was referring to the fact that most of our riders are coming off the winter circuits where they are competing in huge arenas where there is plenty of time to get your thoughts together but at the World Cup the fences come up fast and demand fast thinking from our riders. Kim’s strategy with Marlou was to not compete in Wellington. She didn’t compete until Tampa, “which is a covered ring,” she explained. And then she competed in a competition in Charlotte, “where the ring was smaller than here.” That preparation helped both her and Marlou be ready for the Thomas and Mack Arena and Frey felt confident that her horse “was thinking quickly.”

While Frey placed fourth, it wasn’t until the 12th spot that another American placed. This was Schuyler Riley on Ilian. Candace King on Coco Cabana was 20th, Nicole Simpson and El Campeon’s So Long were 22nd, Gabriella Salick and Sandstone Laurin were 23rd. Anne Kursinski and Roxana 112 placed 29th and McLain Ward and Sapphire were 30th. Richard Spooner and Robinson placed 32nd. Georgina Bloomberg and Nadi were 35th with a refusal but since this was a speed class, the refusal was converted into time. Joie Gatlin and Suncal’s King was 36th. The two most disappointing performances were from Lauren Hough and Laura Kraut. Hough got two very unexpected refusals early in the course on Clasiko. Kraut and Anthem had problems early in the course which resulted in a fall and an elimination. These are all riders that qualified to be here – that shone in both Florida and in Indio. So, maybe Frey had a very valid point in what she was saying. Hopefully the first round will serve as a warm-up for these riders and in the days ahead we’ll see some stellar performances from out show jumpers.

Well, as usual it’s moving into the wee hours here as there’s always so much to do when you work in the media. But we have a great team here covering for horsesdaily.com and we intend to bring the World Cup right to your computer everyday.

In the meantime, feel free to email me with your questions or comments. It’s always nice hearing what you have to say. I can be reached at dderosa1@optonline.net.

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