The History of Kentucky's Rolex

This week is one of the most exciting in the world of Eventing.  At the Kentucky Horse Park in Lexington Kentucky, the Rolex CCI****(four star) event is being held!  It is the only four star (****) event in the Western Hemisphere.  This very prestigious show is an eventing competition held at the same level as Eventing in the Olympics.  $80,000.00 dollars is awarded to the first place winner along with a Rolex watch.  A total purse of $250,000 dollars is awarded to top winning riders.  The show is four days long, and because so many riders participate, the dressage competition begins on Thursday and goes through Friday, with Saturday being the cross-country day, and Sunday is the show-jumping competition. 

How did this event begin?  In 1974 the U.S. won the individual (Bruce Davidson) and team gold in the World Championships.  This gave the honor of holding the world championships to the United States.  In 1978 The Kentucky Horse Park was planning to open, and it was the perfect venue for the World Championships.

More than 170,000 spectators attended, and the event was broadcast worldwide.  Because the event was such a success, and was economically stimulating for the local economy, it was quickly decided that it should become an annual event.  Today it is broadcast in over 18 languages and reaches millions of people. 

RevitaVet is the proud sponsor of these Rolex riders:  Phillip Dutton, Buck Davidson, Sally Cousins, James Alliston, Hawley Bennett-Awad, Allie Knowles, Katie Ruppel and Becky Holder.

 

Let's Talk about Hunt Seat

Hunt seat is a type of forward seat riding steeped in the history and tradition of foxhunting.  Riders can choose to ride on the flat or over fences for showing hunters.  In Hunter under Saddle, or Hunter over Fences classes, the horse’s form, or conformation and way of moving and correct way of jumping, are judged.  Equitation classes are judged more upon the rider’s form and skill on the flat or jumping over small fences.  This includes the correct leg position, forgiving hands, heels positioned with the weight in them, a good and balanced posture, eyes forward and looking up, and when jumping over fences, the rider is focused towards the next jump.  The movement of the equitation horse is usually more collected than the show hunter.  This permits the rider to better regulate the stride for tricky combinations.

Keep in mind, that hunt seat can refer to any form of forward seat riding found also in eventing and showjumping.  Many professional show jumpers start by riding in hunter and equitation classes prior to progressing into the jumper division.

Jumper classes are judged on the ability of a horse and rider team to complete a jumping course with the fewest faults and within the fastest time.  The horse that competes as a show jumper is usually a horse with a higher energy level and more power than a horse that competes as a hunter.  It is rare for a horse to have the ability to show in both hunter and show jumping classes, as the style, disposition and way of going are quite different.

Hunter under saddle and Hunter over fences classes can be found in many breed registry shows.  Sometimes the Hunter under Saddle class is called English Pleasure, depending on which registry is sponsoring the show.  Thoroughbreds and Warmbloods are the most common types of horses shown in hunt seat classes.  Irrespective of the breed, the horse should have a conformation that includes very little knee action, good form over jumps, a long stride and an easy going, well-mannered attitude.