Organizer Katie Walker likes to refer to the Plantation Field International Horse Trials as the "Best Event Ever," and the thing is, she's right: not only is there amazing, Olympic-level competition in a beautiful Unionville setting, but there's also great socializing.
We were there Sunday afternoon to watch the cross-country portion of the three-day event (dressage and stadium jumping are the other parts). Our party (four people, two Corgis) hung out at the water jump, where in the space of only a few strides the horses had to negotiate first one large jump on land, go downhill and into a small pond to jump another, make a sharp right turn and jump out of the pond and then head uphill for the final jump of the combination. Then they took off at a gallop to the next jump. It was just astonishing to watch, especially when the highest-level riders made it look easy.
There were a fair number of mishaps (not surprising, given the difficulty of the course) and "holds on course" for fence repairs, and we saw the occasional riderless horse running around. We joked that the British-accented announcer had a checklist of euphemisms for "fell off" that he kept rotating through: "parted company," "went their separate ways." Fortunately I didn't hear about any serious injuries to horses or riders.
Congratulations and thanks to the organizers and volunteers -- what a massive undertaking it is to pull this event together!
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