RK3DE: Stadium

Coming off of not only Derby but also Badminton weekend it seemed high time to share my remaining rolex media. You can read Amanda’s recap here (hint: yes we stalked Maxime some more…).

We got up with time to spare so we could make the trek up to watch the final jog. I have never participated in or watched a jog before. It was pretty cool to get to see who would be in the final phase instead of just reading about it right before the first rider went in. I was sad to see that Vandiver was not accepted when re presented. I have to say that I was honestly a bit perplexed since he looked pretty great compared to Ellen’s mount Sir Oberon. After the jog it was back to the RV to pack and prepare for departure right after stadium! Amanda touched on this but this year was my first time getting GA seats in the bleachers and minus the fact that our butts took about 3 days to recover it was the place to be! We were so close to the arena. If you have patience and would rather spend your dollars in the trade fair the GA seating is the way to go. Just make sure you get there plenty early to reserve your seat for the main show.

In addition to getting great seats for the main show we were also able to watch the riders walk multiple times – it was interesting to see how different each person walked! Best of all we got to see the retirement ceremony for Buck Davidson’s Reggie. Not a dry eye from the eventing fans in the stadium. While I of course wanted US riders to do well I won’t lie and say I was upset that MJ took the win. First rider ever to win 3 consecutive years! Seeing MJ arms length away while he was clearly busting with pride over how good his mare was was worth the PITA. Literally. Last week was just enough time to recover before heading back to Kentucky for the derby!