What a fantastic 5 days we had! The drive down from Wisconsin to Kentucky was a long one, but it was certainly worth it. The weather was quite nice, aside from being in the upper 80°F with full sun the entire weekend. The horses were primed and ready to go. The K3DE4* took up the mornings, with the 5* starting around 1:00pm, which was nice because we got a hotel about 40 minutes west of the Kentucky Horse Park. Staying in Shellbyville was actually nice, quiet, less expensive, let us sleep in a bit to rest our feet, and the drive to and from the event was breathtaking.

Day 1 for Press began with checking in, receiving press/photographer passes, and photographer bibs, which allowed us to get closer to the horses than any regular observer. We had access to a fully amped up Press Room where we met some of the competitors, got to work on our articles on our computers, check our photos, charge anything that needed charging, watch the live tv coverage streaming on a big screen, and pick up placement forms and media books.

In order to get in to both the 2026 World Cup Finals, and this event, we had to write letters of intention asking to be approved for Press Passes, as well as fill out a few appropriate forms, email them to the show manager at the FEI, then wait for an email confirmation of approval months in advance.

We walked the grounds a little bit, got all appropriate maps, listened to lectures on the rules for media and photographers, was given a daily breakdown by show management, and looked at some of the beautiful tack shops that had booths either inside the covered arena or outside, along all the walk ways to the Rolex Stadium, and beyond towards the Cross Country courses. We met A LOT of dogs!

By the end of the day, WE were dog tired, headed back to the hotel, gaping at all the facilities and fences, ate dinner and crashed!

The scenery on the way back was breathtaking!

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2 Days of Dressage Competition 5*

Overall, the dressage competition this year was quite good. Quite a number of riders rode numerous horses in the 5*. For the most part, the New Zealanders, and British riders had the most “correct” classical riding position, aiding, quietness, and rode the most elegant of all the competitors, with a few exceptions of course. Their scores and placings were amongst the top. It was a truly gruleing day as far as the heat was concerned.

It was nice to watch riders do shorter warm ups than compared to some of the FEI Grand Prix riders at the 2026 Fort Worth Dressage World Cup, who had very different warm up styles and lengths individually. Mainly, I believe because of the necessity to conserve energy for the next two phases.

All of the horses and riders were nicely turned out, and it was a pleasant year to watch—I have been to 3 Rolex Long Format 3 Day Events back in the late 1990’s-early 2000’s, and for me, as a Grand Prix Classicist rider, back then I found it harder to watch mainly competitors who’s passion went only as far as the Cross Country phase, leaving behind below average dressage skill…(I’m not saying ALL OF THEM didn’t invest in dressage, but a high % of them didn’t invest as much training as the competitors in this years event)

The Final Scores for Dressage Phase:

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THE COURSE

Day three (after 2 days of dressage competition), we walked the Cross Country course, where even riders were convinced that this year’s course seemed a bit easy for a 5* Event, especially since World Renowned Designer, Derek Di Grazia designed it. Derek is well known for his expertly challenging courses. However, once on course riders quickly realised that Derek’s tricky work was well planned! After only a few riders made a go of it, one horse was stopped by a TD, holding up the course for quite some time. Buck Davidson, and other riders were held up on course due to this, but soon after the cross country resumed (we were told that a horse looked to be overheating, but did get to finish the course) Buck ended up withdrawing part-way through the course, soon after that another rider also retired early. This was a well planned, trickier than riders initially presumed, course. Not to mention the 5* riders didn’t even start until 1:05pm—riding in blazing hot sun until almost nightfall.

Riders that had great dressage scores slowly started to sink in their ranks after the cross country phase was over. Finding anywhere in the shade on that course that wasn’t roped off was almost impossible!

These are the jumps on Di Grazia’s 5* course…

🚦Starting Box from Jump 1-Combination 7ABCD “Care Credit Question”

Jump 6 “Triple Bar”

A STICKY COMBINATION 7ABCD

GALLOP OFF AFTER COMBINATION 7ABCD

Fences 10-14ABC

Combination 15ABC — 19A

Through the “Owl Hole”

Jump 17 “The Gate” Into the Woods, Down the Hill, to the Head of The Lake We Go…

Combinations 18AB & 19AB at “The Head of The Lake”

Combination 19B-Combination 21ABC

The “T-Bar” Fence with Ditch

Uphill gallop & over the road

Tight jump of a Corner Finishing the Combination

Fences 22-26AB “Mighty Moguls”

The course was so long with a massive connection of different fields with differing terrain, we only managed to get photos at fences 6, Combination 7ABCD, 16, 17, 18AB, 19AB, 20, 23AB, & 24 (from a distance).

We had hoped to get the start and finish line, but they were so far away and myself having fibromyalgia and my dad/business partner having bad knees, it wasn’t possible.

Fence 27-28 to the Finish Line 🏁

Unfortunately my dad had a mishap with his camera this day and ALL of his photos were somehow lost forever…so I’ll never know what happened to the spot he was invited to by some veteran photographers at the “Head of The Lake,” but he thought the sport was just thrilling to watch—as a non-equestrian, that’s saying something!

Way to go ALL competitors that day!

Listed below are the placings after the Dressage and Cross Country Phases:

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Day 4 in the morning was the Inspection, which we were unable to make, preceded by the 4* Stadium Jumping, a break, a retirement ceremony for “Bug,” and later in the afternoon was the 5* Stadium Jumping.

Now it was Make or Break Time!! And the place was packed!

5* Course Walk just after the removal of the 4* Jumping Course

After the 4* Stadium Jumps were removed and their ceremony was held, all the 5* riders, trainers and grooms carefully walked their Stadium Jumping Course. After numerous course walks, then being asked to leave the arena for competition, IT WAS ON!

Competition was fierce! The ranks went all over the place in this round. The jump cups were flat, the fences were maximum width and height, and for the most part, the horses were electric! A few horses gave it their all, but pulled rails as you could see that they were coming down from their peaks after yesterday’s grueling demands. All the horses and riders received applause, and some got screams of excitement. Even with the heat still beating down, it was a great day!

Ruby Slippers on course!

“Riding it Like You Stole It” moments..

Whew! Checking the next line..

No Way will these be coming down…

Some 👀checking for the next fences, knowing the rails were safely under them…

Some super tight calls with rails…

There were some L O N G take offs…

There were some SHARP TURNS…

Super safe over jumping…

Most riders got roars of applause, and some riders gave all the credit to where credit was due…their horses!

Thumbs way up with that round!

Winning moments!

With all the Show Jumping complete, Will Coleman climbed the ranks from 5th place after dressage to 1st place, winning this year’s Defender Kentucky 3 Day 5* Event. Congratulations Will, Diablo, and his team for all their hard work. Enjoy that nice new “Defender” you get to drive for a year!

The final results from Dressage phase, to Cross Country, to Stadium Jumping:

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After a long, exciting weekend, we hopped in the car and took turns driving that night into the wee hours of the morning, back to Madison, Wisconsin. Congratulations & safe travels to ALL the competitors, vendors, staff, and attendees from across the 🌎

This article was sponsored by DressurSPORT.com LLC Browbands. Supporting Dressage & Eventing!

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