PRO Derby Cross-Wellington Style

Just got back from Wellington, FL where I competed last night in the inaugural PRO Derby Cross at the Palm Beach  Equestrian Center. It was quite the coup for PRO as we were the lead-in competition for the Puissance class later that evening, and also were fortunate to have our competition on the Nations Cup weekend. This was huge in terms of visibility for our sport. Eventers have gone to Wellington for years to hone their show jumping skills early in the season, but to have a competition of our own was a great feat indeed, thanks to the many people responsible for making it happen lead by our fearless leader Samantha Lendl.

Five teams of five riders (three eventers, one show jumper and one polo player) were introduced by the colorful commentating duo of Leslie Law and Boyd Martin. Each team competed against the clock (basically a speed class format) with each discipline riding a different course. For us eventers, the track included an several show jumps and many cross country fences including an angled brush combination, a corner combo and a bank, drop to a skinny brush. The questions I'd say were strong Preliminary to soft Intermediate, but in that atmosphere and at that speed David O'Connor's course was plenty testing.

I rode my advanced horse Dustin, substituting last minute for the injured Jennie Brannigan. Riding on the Hay Gain sponsored team of myself, captain Phillip Dutton, Sinead Halpin, Katie Prudent and polo player Dominic (sorry I forget Dominic's last name!!) I was the first to go for our team. I was told to go FAST and if I had a rail so be it. I definitely did go really quickly but at the expense of two rails--one definitely being my fault. I galloped so fast to the brick wall that would be used later in the evening for the puissance that the ol' boy just flattened out a bit and nipped the top of it with his hind feet. I'm not known as being a speed demon, but I get fiercely competitive in team situations so I must admit I was a little peeved at myself but  I had a blast nonetheless.

                                    
                                        (Dustin flying the Hermes Wall)

The rest of our team performed very respectably, but couldn't match the excellent performance put in by the Cavalor/Farm Vet sponsored team of Will Faudree, Buck and Bruce Davidson, Aaron Vale and Kris Kempson. Will was the star of the evening posting the fasted round (not a big surprise to those of you who know Will) on Jay Pyne's Errigal Lion. This good jumping cross country machine has found his niche in life I think! I heard Jay was watching the coverage on the computer in Maine,  jumping up and down with excitement as his wife Sandy and daughter Sara watched in person.

There was a lovely after dinner and party at the ringside tent populated by at least a couple hundred PRO owners, supporters and fans. It was great to meet the whole Hay Gain crew, as well as all of the other folks who came out for a fun night of sport. The evening was capped off by the Puissance which saw the winner jumping over 7". Un-REAL.

So let me finish by saying it was a great competition, good publicity for PRO and for the the sport of Eventing.  We don't get to play to this crowd very often (and there was definitely a BIG crowd). PRO has gotten some pretty unfortunate press lately, but I know we will refine our mission to truly make the broader sport of Eventing unapologetically a sport we pros can make a living at but at the same time--and this is not just lip service--promote a healthier sport that is enjoyed by all of it's participants.  We may not always get it right, but we sure are out there trying. The sport of Eventing is way more fun and productive than the sport of cutting people and things down. I'll be concentrating on the former.

There might be more pictures later so watch this space!