1997 Rolex KY Cross-Country
Here are some pictures of the 1997 Rolex Kentucky cross-country competition. All photographs were taken by me . Some of the information about jumps is from the course description in the official program, written by course designer Michael Etherington-Smith. Any comments in quotations are verbatim from Etherington-Smith's description.
The pictures here are in the order that the jumps appeared on the course, not in the order I took them. For example, the first few pictures are actually the last riders of the day. The numbers in front of the jumps indicate the jump's position on the course.
I have tried to identify the horse and rider wherever possible. In some cases, I was positive. In others, I made a safe guess based on information such as horse color, sequence on course, visible fragments of numbers, etc. I don't think I've mis-identified anyone. When in doubt, I omitted the identification.
I'm sorry I didn't get pictures of every jump, but I got the good ones. I decided not to put thumbnail pictures on this page (except for the one above), because I'm lazy and because it makes the page take forever to load, especially if you have a slow modem. Click on the name of the jump to see the picture.
- #5A - Footbridge
"A very big fence requiring confident and positive riding", fairly early in the course. There was a longer easier option, but I was fortunate to catch a couple of riders taking the hard way. The jump is 3'11" high, 5'11" wide. The rider in this picture is Julie Burns, riding Court Command. They finished in seventh place. Thanks to Julie's student, Kristen Shimeall, for helping confirm the identification.
- #5A - Footbridge
Same jump, different horse. My karma was good on this one. It turned out to be a farily decent shot of Karen O'Connor and Worth the Trust, who ended up in first place!
- #6 - Trakehners
This jump is "new, big, exciting, attractive". And this is another shot of the winner! It was the end of the day, end of the roll, and I just spun around and snapped this one right after the previous one. Not a very flattering camera angle here, at least not for Karen. But I had to include this picture, because it's the only one I have of this jump; and because you can't have too many pictures of the champ. It ain't easy to get decent pictures of the same rider over 2 jumps. So here it is. And don't ask me about the jump's name .. I always thought a Trakehner was some kinda fancy horse, but it looks like it's a big log.
- #7A - Lexington Bank
The Lexington bank is a Rolex tradition .. it's always there, although it changes a little every year. This jump "requires a combination of skills - courage, accuracy ...". Here we have a horse and rider starting up the 3'6" steps onto the bank, taking the direct route. There was also a longer alternate route.
- #7D - Lexington Bank
Gayle Nolander and Houdini, taking the 3'11" log jump on top of the Lexington Bank.
- #8A - Lexington Bank Rails
Torrance Watkins and Lou Llewellyn coming off of the bank, taking the direct route, 3' high rails with a 6' drop.
- #8A - Another Way Down
The longer alternate way off of the bank.
- #8B - Stonehenge
Gayle Nolander and Houdini taking Stonehenge, a fairly straightforward 3'11 jump.
- #8B - Stonehenge
Same jump as before .. different horse, different camera angle.
- #9A - Produce Stand
3'10" high, 5'3" - 5'8" wide.
- #9BC - Market Corner
3'11" high.
- #10 - Charlotte's Web
Neat jump. Notice the cute little spider at the top. Looks like somebody else wanted a picture of this one, too. 3'11" high.
- #12 A - Sawmill
Here's Julie Burns again (remember her from the first footbridge picture?) She's on a different horse this time, Caitlin. Actually, she rode Caitlin first, but since this jump is later on the course, it's later on this page.
- #12 C - Sawmill
Julie and Caitlin again, taking the last element of the Sawmill jump.
- #12 A - Sawmill
Here's another rider taking the Sawmill jump. I haven't figured out who this is.
- #12 C - Sawmill
Same unknown rider as above, finishing up the sawmill.
- #15 - Log Bounce
A couple of big logs to bounce over before splashing towards the island. "Individually the fences are not too difficult, but put together as they are is a very different and indeed intricate sequence .. not for the faint-hearted". Here we see Michael Winter and Twister taking the bounce.
- #15 - Log Bounce
Martha Lambert riding Rajh
- #16B - Treasure Island
No faint hearts here! I'm fairly certain that this is Cricket Dixon riding J. Piper Muldoon, taking the 3'5" rails and 5'11"drop off of the island.
- #16B - Treasure Island
Karen Brain and Double Take, taking the slightly longer alternate route.
- #16B - Treasure Island
Charles Plumb and Dunroamin Star preparing to take the plunge. They finished in sixth place.
- #16B - Treasure Island
Can you tell I really liked this jump? Here's one more picture: Stephanie Bayer and Dreyfus.
- #17 - Fountains
"Relatively straightforward and gives horses and riders a bit of a breather." 3'10" high, 6' ditch, with water circulating through, along, and beneath the jump. Sounds like a real breather to me!
- #20 - Elephant Trap
"Big but straighforward" .. yeah, right, that's why it's called elephant trap. 3'10" high, 7' ditch, 9' base. This is Mark Weissbecker and Brevity, heading over the trap. They ended up in 10th place. Mark also finished third on a different horse, Best Seller.
- #20 - Elephant Trap
One of my favorite shots (it's a big version of the one at the top of the page). When you shoot 4 rolls of film, you're bound to get one or two good pictures. This is Abigail Lufkin, riding (appropriately) Lighter than Air. That about says it all. Well, I might as well add that they finished in fourth place.
- #21 - Sunken Road
"The last significant test on the course. It does require good riding." You mean some of the others don't? It requires the horse and rider to "jump the rails, bounce down into the road, take one stride, jump up the step, and bounce over the final rail." A longer, slightly easier (but not much) route allows for a stride before going into the road. This picture and the second one aren't very good camera work, but they're the only cross-country photos I managed to take of local favorite Dorothy Trapp Crowell and her new horse, Tetrarch, so I had to include them.
- #21 - Sunken Road
No comment here .. see above
- #21 - Sunken Road
A little better photography here. Amanda Warrington and Regal Style heading down into the "road"...
- #21 - Sunken Road
... and here they are up and out and over the final logs.
- #25 - Steeplechase Turn
Okay .. maybe this isn't "significant" (see Sunken Road description), but it's still a nice picture.
[ Rolex Intro (and other years) | 1997 Report | 1997 stadium | Electronic Equestrians | Home ]
