Rolex Interlude

I'm back from a full, exciting weekend at the Rolex CCI****!  This year I worked in the stabling office for the first time, which was a job I really enjoyed.  The stabling office is a very busy place during Rolex-- it is the main liaison between grooms and competitors, officials, and show management.  Our team of six was led by Mary Fike, president of MSEDA, who has been doing the job of running the office since 1982.  We were tasked with an assortment of jobs, including making coffee (not my specialty), dispensing information (results, orders-of-go, credentials requirements), assisting with some quarantine monitoring for foreign horses, taking messages and items to riders and grooms in the stabling, handing out XC pinnies and the famous gift bags to competitors, and welcoming riders, grooms, and their guests into the office to watch the live feed or use the fabulous massage chair that the event provides.  It was a busy place but I liked the nonstop action and wide variety of tasks, and I was delighted to help the riders, horses and grooms do their jobs.

Me with "Fast Betty," the preferred golf cart in the office

I also cheered on my friend Heather Gillette and the lovely Our Questionnaire (aka Questie) during their first attempt at a CCI****.  After a steady test in the notoriously electric stadium at the KHP on Friday, her groom, her husband, plus one of her other friends and I saw her off on cross-country on Saturday.  She didn't feel that Questie was quite his usual self, however, and pulled up after Fence 10.  I was so proud of her for making the right horsemanship decision and saving her wonderful horse for another day.  Look for an edition of Ask Taco featuring Questie sometime in the near future!

Heather and Questie getting ready for XC

Now that I'm back at home, final preparations have begun for the Area III Championships at Poplar Place this weekend!  I finally got to jump again-- between seemingly nonstop rain and a couple of lost shoes, a jump school has been a long time coming-- and I've already started packing our essentials.  My goals for this weekend are to strike a better balance (literally) and correctly manage Taco's energy in my approaches to fences, and to be straighter in my body.  He feels fabulous and ready for anything, although we are having some cosmetic difficulties: lingering baldness issues.  I have started him on APF Pro after a conversation at Rolex with Mike Van Noy, the vet who developed it. I'll update here when I determine whether it helps with Taco's allergies and resulting hair loss.

Oh yes, and we got our entry confirmation for Indiana T3D!  Woo hoo!  It is only one month from this weekend...