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-- 2010 is the first time in the history of the World Equestrian
Games that the show has been held outside Europe.
--58
nations are competing at WEG this year; 1100 horses are at the Kentucky Horse Park with 900 riders. (this number seems to
grow as the show continues!)
--The
rings for reining and dressage/show jumping were carefully honed to the type of use at the show. Basically, reining was soft
and deep top to a firmer arena that was slideable; and the dressage had a firmer bottem that would not allow slipping and
much less depth of top layers. I am sure that more specifics will be revealed.
The result is that the competitors have been very, very pleased
with the footing, and very complimentary to the show management.
--The
Kentucky Horse Park was originally used for the annual 4 star Rolex 3-day event that attracted International competitors
due to the natural areas available for the cross-country, and continues to this day. Since the development has begun, the
site has become headquarters for many breeds and equine organizations. Not to mention the multi-million dollar Kentucky Horse
Park Museum!
--This is the first time all of the Equestrian disciplines have been
competing at the same venue, allowing competitors to view other equestrian competitions more easily, etc. |
--BREEDS COMPETING: In Dressage, Dutch Warmbloods, Hanoverians
and Oldenburgs dominated with significant showings from Danish Warmbloods, Selle Francais, and many others.
----In Show Jumping Holsteiners definitely dominated, with some DWB, Selle Francais,
and other breeds and crosses.
----In Eventing, Irish Sporthorses were predominant as the most mentioned breed (and
these were very refined compared to the ones I have seen). Most were Thoroughbred crosses.
-----Japan had an Anglo-Arabian stallion in the Eventing.
--In Driving--Combined : Dutch horses were most mentioned, including the "Gelderlander"
that evidently is bred for driving--DWB, etc. Other European warmbloods such as Oldenburg, Selle Francais, etc. mentioned.
And then we do have to mention with a tip of the hat to the American breeder that is a rancher
from Texas, has been breeding American Quarter Horses since the late 60's, saw some Friesans and got the driving bug, and
has bred his own four-in-hand team of FriesanxQuarterhorses. These horse move very well for driving--ie square and free
moving, and have the refinement of bone and size of the QH. Nice presentation tho had some performance problems.
However, competing Internationally, and certainly an "addition" to the Driving community!
Generally, many countries had their specific Warmbloods in every competition--such as Australian,
Nabian (South Africa), Polish, British and so on. No further info on the breeding that I found at this time.
There is a website that lists the breeding and gender and age of every horse competing--go
to:
www. alltechgames.com
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--DRIVING: the host team can add up to 6 individual competitors.
The cost of transporting 5 horses and two carriages over the Atlantic can be around $100K, so many teams from Europe have
elected to stay at home this year and compete in France in 2012.
I am not sure if this addition applies to any venue or year.
Info courtesy of feitv.org driving commenataors.
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L.Robinson, agent
for available horses.
L.Robinson, agent
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