Wednesday June 23 2010
The World Endurance Championship will be held in Lexington, Kentucky this year on September 26th. (Picture is from last year's flooded pre-ride in Lexington.)
This week - crammed into ten days - selection trails among the dozens of qualified horses and riders are happening in Illinois, Maryland, and Oregon. The US chef d' equipe Becky Hart and 5 selectors will be looking at horses and riders in a simulated endurance race of 80 miles. Final selections will be made in August.
There will be 5 slots in Kentucky - just five.
I'm going to the trials in Oregon starting tomorrow. Not as a snooping photojournalist, but as crew for friend and qualified rider with two qualified horses, Charisse Glenn.
Now, I've crewed on endurance rides before - like, for myself - so this weekend will be different, as I'll be doing some serious crewing for someone with a serious goal. A friend of mine said, "Carry a sponge in one hand, and a hoof pick in the other - and you'll be ready for anything!" I've got the Raven with me too, so we'll be bringing Charisse and Bogart and Steele some good fast Mojo.
And, I truly have no competitive bones in my body, so this will be a good look at the inside competition, tension, and excitement of the folks hoping to represent the US in endurance this year at the WEG - World Equestrian Games - the Olympics of the horse sporting world.
The photos will probably be limited, and the reporting may be mum for a while - but be patient. Stories will come.
Plus it will prepare me well for crewing TEVIS this year... which is another story to come!
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