It was day one of Rolex events on Tuesday here at the Kentucky Horse Park. The Kentucky Cup CDI3*, a Dressage Test Event for the Alltech World Equestrian Games, kicked off this morning with 25 horses strutting their stuff in the Grand Prix. Amid the hustle of preparations for the Rolex Kentucky Three-Day the outdoor stadium was as beautiful a setting as ever for this elite competition. Sunny skies in the morning turned grey and dreary in the afternoon, I was certainly under dressed for the cool weather and had to tough it out.

Eight US riders with WEG on the brain started. My personal favorite of the day was Tuny Page’s adorable Danish Warmblood mare Alina, she recently graduated from the Intermediaire ranks and is coming into her own in the Grand Prix. Belinda Trussell and Anton of Canada set the bar high during the morning session with a score of 70.21%. It wasn’t until the mid-afternoon that Tina Konyot and Calecto V took to the ring and put in an impressive round to take over the top spot with a score of 70.638%. They remained in first to finish the day with a victory gallop; Trussell was second and Canadian Bonny Bonnello and Pikardi were third.

In true WEG fashion the class ended with a mock medal ceremony complete with podium and national anthem. The riders rode into the ring, dismounted, and then stepped onto the podium. This of course meant that they had to remount to ride the victory gallop… with no mounting block it quickly turned comical. Luckily a chair from the judges booth was found and although a little unsteady all three riders managed to re-mount and complete their victory laps.

Today the Grand Prix Special will take place beginning at 10:00AM, followed on Thursday by the ever popular Grand Prix Freestyle to take place under the lights. I will try my best to snap some photos today!