American Royal Horse Show Thursday

It is the end of a very long day, so this will be brief. The old ladies (Jane and I) are at The American Royal Horse Show, which is older than we are – this is the 120th year. It was a very important horse show, but has diminished a bit over the years. Horse shows of only one week have been supplanted by multiple week shows at fancy, horse friendly venues, so the Royal has lost a lot of the top competitors it used to attract. Still, there are plenty of nice horses in attendance, and some top riders, and we are very happy to be here.

We arrived yesterday, driving through some rain to get here, right smack in the middle of downtown Kansas City. “We” are Jane and I, and Bart. Derry did not join us on this trip. Since it’s just Bart, we are stabled with Kris, and it’s so nice to be part of the Kirin Farm group. Bart’s stall was matted and bedded when we arrived – luxury! Unloading was simple and we were soon settled in.

Kris and Jane schooled us over some jumps. I felt more ready than I’d expected thanks to connecting with Kris, and Bart was excellent, remembering all his lessons from St. Louis.

We had an early dinner at The Golden Ox, a tradition at this horse show, which is on the grounds of the old stockyards. Toasts were made to old friends who enjoyed The Golden Ox over the years and are now gone.

There was an exciting Grand Prix to watch last evening, won by Taylor Land, whose three horses all made the jump off. Some great riding and nice horses, with 17 in the class, and 7 jumping off. Taylor’s father, Jay Land, was a famous young rider when we started showing. Now the next generation is making her mark, with her father’s help.

Then came our misadventurous hotel experience. We had reserved a room at The Marriott Downtown, which turned out to be convenient, but outrageously fancy. We pulled up in our rusty, 22 year old, one ton dually to the valet parking and were told that we could not park in their garage! The truck was too big. This was no “horse show hotel”. We had a delightful night there (the truck was parked across the street in an underground public parking garage), but tonight have moved to the Hilton Garden Inn (which is where I meant to make a reservation, but got confused). Here, there is an ample parking lot, and it’s a familiar place, if not as luxurious as our first night.

When we arrived this morning, Bart was looking out his door, and was having his stall cleaned by Bre, who is from Blue Springs, is riding with Kris, and helping at the show! Talk about spoiling me – this was quite a surprise!

We did the 1 meter (3’3″) class, which was a Speed Class (no jump off). Bart was very fresh, and jumped around really well, but had a ghastly 4 faults jumping out of an in and out (our usual problem area). This time, though, video slow motion showed that Bart’s hind feet slipped as he pushed for takeoff. Anyway, he was clever to stay on his feet, and finished as though nothing had happened, luckily with another in and out that rode just fine. He should be sharp for tomorrow, I hope, when the jumps will be bigger.

Just like at St. Louis, Bart was selected for drug testing! We must look suspicious. He was a little slow to comply, but eventually peed in the cup… and then he was allowed to go to the wash rack and have a bath

The best part of the Royal is seeing old friends (and the grown children of old friends). Also, making new friends, of course.

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We went to our favorite restaurant (via Uber, so we didn’t have to park our truck!) – Cafe Gratitude – then returned to the show for a long afternoon.

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At 5:30 there was a Progressive Dinner, so we were well fed…

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Then, we watched the Hunter Derby, which was a very long course of 16 jumps, and took a couple of hours, with 27 entries! It was fun to see people we knew riding under pressure and doing well. Though there were some that had “learning experiences”.

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Ali McCool and Rocky had a nice round and placed 6th. A new friend, young Sian, in only her second Derby ever, placed in the Junior section on Micaela Kennedy’s lovely Pagani.

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And now it’s the end of another day at the horse show, far from the news and immersed in friendship and the heady scent of horses. We are all so fortunate! On to the High Adults tomorrow…