Will Connell’s Blog: 18 September, Preparing for WEG 2010

This blog entry, dated 18 September 2010, was written by Team GBR’s performance director Will Connell during the final preparations for the Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games in Lexington, Kentucky. It offered a candid, behind-the-scenes account of the logistical effort involved in setting up a British base camp at a major championship.

Riders and Staff Arrive

The entry reported that a group of endurance riders, dressage grooms and a Welsh delegation had successfully navigated the challenges of entering the United States and connected with their allocated flights to Lexington and Cincinnati. Among the first senior figures of the FEI to arrive was Dr John McEwen, the GBR dressage team vet and a member of the FEI Veterinary Committee.

Setting Up the Stables

The account described a day of hard work building towards a state of readiness. Union flags were flying above the British stables, and the team’s golf buggies were decorated with flags, bunting and equine teddy bears, partly as a light-hearted measure to deter anyone tempted to make off with the team’s nine buggies. Mucking-out kit, wheelbarrows, stable guards and buckets were distributed across seven stable blocks and marked with Union flag stickers, while cabling was run in to power fans to keep the horses cool. Team members Sarah and Sophie were credited with preparing clothing, umbrellas, rucksacks and information for new arrivals, and a trip to a local store stocked the central store with drinks ahead of vehicle restrictions in the stable area.

A physiotherapy room was set up for the athletes alongside a team room, and endurance grooms led by Des Payton prepared the endurance stables for the first horses, due to arrive the following day along with a reining horse. News from the Post Arrival Quarantine was that all horses were doing well, with particular sympathy reserved for those that had endured a 35-hour flight from Australia followed by 48 hours in quarantine. Mark Beever was praised for running the quarantine operation for the British horses.

The Horse Transport Operation

As the entry was written, the dressage horses were preparing to load onto aircraft in Liège, Belgium, from where all the British horses were flown. The flights were organised by Peden Bloodstock, long-standing partners of the team, in what was described as the largest ever airlift of horses.

Logistics and Welfare

The first Chefs de Mission meeting had taken place the previous afternoon and was well attended, with the organising committee keen to work with the nations to make the Games a success. The blog highlighted ongoing concerns over grooms’ accommodation, with no catering outlet initially in place and some grooms allocated to crowded RVs. The organising committee was working to bring a catering van into the grooms’ village until the athlete and staff dining facility opened on 22 September. The grooms were singled out as the hardest-working people at any venue, with the entry noting that the arrangements planned for London 2012, where grooms would be housed in a four-star hotel, would be a welcome improvement.