Plantation Field

"Why bother going to London?" asked a fellow jump-judge as we watched members of the U.S. Olympic team competing in the cross-country segment of the Plantation Field three-day event this past weekend.
The riders made it look just so darned easy as they soared over astonishingly large, imposing jumps while remaining perfectly steady, focused and fearless. Sitting just yards away, we were simply spellbound.

"These are the kinds of jumps I would walk around," said a fox-hunting pal in disbelief. She remarked repeatedly how beautifully trained (and valuable) these high-level horses were. In contrast, she said ruefully, her horse would have seen one of the big white tents and not made it past that point: "Ooo! It's so big and white and tentlike! What is it?"
During our afternoon shift we saw only one mishap, when a horse caught his back legs on the second part of an evil uphill jump and tumbled down, then ran off riderless. Fortunately the rider got back up and seemed OK (though I bet she was sore the next day), and the horse was caught as it ran back toward the stabling area.
Plantation Field was a blast, as always. It was beautifully organized, and the weather was marvelous (except for the last few competitors on Saturday, who rode in the pouring rain). I saw tons of friends and caught up with some neighbors I hadn't seen for a while. At the dressage competition on Friday I ran into my doctor, who counts among her patients many of the competitors.
In addition to the equestrian events there were a lot of shops selling all sorts of tack and country-themed clothes, jewelry and knick-knacks (a caddy for your remote-control devices with a fox painted on it! A sign saying "Groundhog Shooting Forbidden"!). As always, the Dubarry sales rep was standing in a basin of water to show how waterproof their boots are. The two alpacas that one farm brought along were adorable.
I didn't get up to the tailgating competition, but I understand that one resourceful contestant re-created miniature versions of some of the jumps using foodstuffs.
On my way out at the end of the day Saturday I saw another volunteer standing by her jump and asked her if she wanted me to find her a chair.
"Oh, no," she said. "I have one. I'm just too excited to sit down."