To Barbados for the USEF and FEI

Here I am flying back from my quick trip to Barbados. The FEI with help from the USET has started a program assisting developing countries in Dressage in hopes that they will be able to create teams for the Pan Am Games. I was asked at the last minute to go to Barbados to observe their riders at the FEI Dressage Challenge.  Two international judges, one from Finland and one from Columbia, have been on the road for about a month, judging shows in Trinidad, Jamaica, Haiti, Antigua, Bermuda. At each show there are FEI classes for Children, Preliminary. Medium (about 2nd level), Advanced (about 4th Level) and PSG. Each country names 4 riders to be their team before the show starts and then the country with the highest score is the Group winner.

I arrived in the early afternoon and went directly to the jog. They were holding the jog at two venues where almost all of the horses are boarded. We waited in the hot sun for almost an hour because the vet was dealing with an emergency somewhere. The horses went from average paints and appy’s to Swedish warmbloods crossed with their local TB race horses, to imported schoolmasters.  The horses looked well but by our standards were a bit thin (translate into, were not overweight). One rider was bemoaning the difficulties of getting her horse shod properly because there was a week or two where there wasn’t a shoeing nail to be found on the entire island. Not to mention that the farriers don’t have much education in farriery. The jog was fine, a couple were held for the next day. Then the judges went off to the other end of the island for the next part of the jog and I went home with my hosts, Alison and James Elliott. He is the president of the National Federation.  They had a nice home on the top of a hill where the breezes were delightful. Windows are open all the time. They had two little sparrow/finch type birds who fly into and out of the kitchen all the time. Apparently a few years ago they had two pair — one pair came in the windows on one side and the other pair came in from the other side and if they ever met, all hell let loose.

Off to a press conference at the incredibly elegant hotel on the beach where the judges stayed (donated by the Hotel). To no one’s surprise the press was an hour late, but our time was used up when a call came from the chief judge that he did not feel the footing at the second stable which is where the competition was to be held was sufficient and could not be used. So anyone who has ever had anything to do with organizing can now imagine the consternation. But in about an hour’s time the owners of the other stable agreed to hold it, tents, chairs, port-a-potties were organized, competitors were informed and transportation was arranged. There is some rivalry between the two stables as can be imagined, but that was also dealt with. Oops, forgot to tell you about the jog at that stable. A stallion got away from his rider and left......was found 2 hours later, after he had found a girlfriend mare. Someone received a free breeding! Trailering can be a bit of an ordeal since they move their horses very seldom. The trailers and the vehicles pulling them made me a bit nervous now that I am used to our elegant solid trailers and trucks. Since the horses are trailered in, just for the day it can be tough because some horses get pretty up tight trailering and I can certainly understand after driving on the roads. They are barely wide enough for two vehicles, with absolutely no shoulder and the traffic is a bit.... Well let’s just say I as glad I wasn’t driving. They don’t have many lights, but lots of confusing roundabouts.

So we had a wonderful dinner finally, to bed, and on to the show which went well. Most of the riders had nice horses, some could be very competitive with the riders getting a little more help. And Barbados ended up winning their group challenge. I spent Sunday AM writing up my reports for the FEI, the USEF, and the riders.

A bit of Barbados trivia for those who don’t know much about it. It is the easternmost island in the Caribbean, 166 square miles,  was fairly safe while the European countries were fighting over the islands because while it is easy to sail from England to Barbados it is extremely difficult to sail from the other islands there. The island has mongooses, only one type of snake, a harmless garden snake that is pretty rare. The pelicans have become pretty rare because of loss of habitat and appear to be adapting to eating freshwater fish. There is one oil well. Horse racing and polo is very active. Lots of sugar cane fields. The gorgeous coastline beaches with fabulous homes and hotels. Thee interior is pretty unimpressive. Lots of tiny brightly painted homes jammed together with tiny very clean yards, but you weren’t aware of terrible poverty.