Since my last correspondence, we have experienced many fabulous events here in Conty! The opening ceremonies certainly did not disappoint anyone as several breeds were displayed. There were two Spanish riding horses moving in unison with music and a lovely, young French woman working at liberty with a single horse. A lively ensemble of horns and drums kept the crowd in beat and alert during much of the presentation. We were even treated to a woman and her border collie herding a flock of geese, as if sheep aren’t difficult enough!

Then the main act arrived! The 18 teams and 6 individuals smartly worked their way into the stadium as the announcer educated all with their names and countries. The Americans chose Kathrin Dancer to carry the whip driving her own horse, Redford and one of Misdee Miller’s, Snoopy. Joe Yoder and Misdee followed behind on foot. As the teams lined up, 24 French youth dressed in colorful and energetic costumes approached their visitors in dance and gleefully returned to their origin where they joined with a Chef D’Equip, clasping a flag from each of the participating nations. As grand music boomed from the orchestra, each flag was raised in unison to the applause of a grateful crowd. One final parade of carriages and it was on to the next event!

That evening, each team was invited to one of many surrounding communities for a local celebration of wine and food. The group from the U.S.A. along with Poland and Uruguay was selected to join the Mayor of Conty at the local gymnasium where they were met by a roaring crowd of several hundred local Parisians. Pleasantries were exchanged between the mayor and each team and it’s Chef D’Equip on an elevated stage in front of the inspired locals. Chester Weber was presented an official medallion of the City of Conty and he reciprocated with a bottle of Tennessee’s finest Whiskey, Jack Daniels. Champagne poured endlessly and the competitors and their family’s were treated to a traditional French buffet.

Thursday morning marked the beginning of the Dressage competition phase and it was Misdee Miller drawn as the first and only U.S. competitor on opening day. After fighting through many distracting events adjacent to the warm up ring, Miller delivered a solid test and elevated herself to 4th overall. She had hoped her 1st place dressage finish just weeks earlier in Bavaria would have helped her more but by the end of the day, Miller rested at 11th overall. The pressure will pass to Dancer and Yoder on Friday.

The evening activity ranked as a solid 10! Each country was asked to decorate a table with their traditional food and drink for all countries to sample and discuss. There wasn’t a poor selection to consider as everyone embraced one another in a magnificent and engaging exchange of conversation, food and drink. Each country did their best to provide a sampling of unique offerings from their homeland. The most prevalent offering was adult libations but sausage was a close second followed by cheese and ham. There is more variation of preparation than type of food from these neighboring nations. The Hungarians unique offering was a tasty goulash, however, the Irish played it safe with Guinness, Irish whisky and Irish crème liqueur. The Brits delivered with a fruit filled Pimm’s cup, salmon and rolled beef. The Czec’s brought a great beer and sweet pickles and their table neighbors, the French, served champagne, cheese and wine (could have guessed?…). Denmark had a towering display of raw and cooked fishes that demanded a much braver man than me to sample! The American display had instant recognition, as they were keen enough to tempt the Europeans with some of their favorite imports, Jack Daniels and Coke-Cola. There were support offerings of American chips and candy that were devoured by the population of children scouring for compatible fare. America always has something for everyone!
Hoots and Hollers could be heard well into the morning hours as revelers found their way back to their camp sites in hopes of enough rest to carry them through another demanding day of competition!

Friday presents another day of great dressage driving and competition. There is a strong chance of rain, however in Europe, that is more certain than not. The day is sure to be better than the last as each day has provided more and more excitement and splendor. August in France, Magnificent!