This entry was posted on 6/23/2007 10:31 AM and is filed under uncategorized.
Thursday June 21 2007
THE RAVEN JET SETS!
Our driver
picked up the four of us – Alice Proust, Nicolas Wahlen, (the
professional organizer of Compiegne), The Raven (stuffed in my bag),
and me, and shuttled us to the Misura Endurance Village in the valley
just below Assisi Town. Nicolas, formerly from the jumping world, (“I'm
too old for that now,”) is now an enthusiastic endurance rider, and is
doing a 90 km ride next weekend near his home in France.
Some
1200 people and 1 Raven
attended the opening Gala Dinner for Assisi
Endurance Lifestyle. Alice and Nicolas worked the crowd, introducing me
to many people they knew, including Jane and Ian Williams, the FEI
Endurance Director. Pedro from Chile and Jodi from Jordan again
mentioned to me the Wadi Rum endurance ride in Jordan, and rides in
Chile. This is what I really relish about endurance – people from all
over the world getting together all around the world, for endurance
riding. It can be far off in a wooded corner of a small town in
Australia, or under a medieval city in Italy, it can be flat out racing
on the sands of Dubai or the toughest mountain trail you'll ever ride
on the Tevis course in America, but we're all here for horses – those
tough amazing animals that take us on trails and adventures we as
humans could never do (except for the few elite athletes) on our own
two legs.
Champagne and special Umbrian hors-d'oeuvre were
served while the elegant crowd mingled. The Raven fit right in with the
world of culture and high society – he has no social airs and always
enjoys himself. Around 10 PM there was a mass migration toward the
tables set up surrounding the stage. The show started off with a
fashion show under the lights, with the lit up Baslilca of St Francis
on the hill, and higher up the lit up Rocca Maggiore castle, providing
the backdrop for the open air countryside setting.
It's a tough
job serving 1200 people a 3-course dinner, but with the waiters plying
the crowd with plenty of wine and champagne, we hardly noticed the
passage of time – or the blowing of some power breakers - between the
delectable risotto and pasta and beef dishes. At 11:30 PM a jazzy band
started playing, then at midnight, a fireworks show started from the
castle on top of the hill. Nice complement to the meal – the crowd
applauded politely, when... BAM! In the field right behind the stage,
the REAL fireworks show began
. Fireworks are almost always
entertaining, but I must say that I've never seen one as spectacular as
this, including any 200-year anniversary fireworks shows on July 4th in
the USA. They were dramatic, colorful, choreographed, and had the
entire crowd, tipsy or not, oohing and aahing in delight like little
kids. Bravo!
After the final dish was served, the crowd drifted
from the tables to the bar area where fresh fruits, coffee, and gelato
were served to polish off the evening. We hung around and visited with
more people, including the veterinarian Carlos of Spain, and Meg Wade,
whose suitcase still hadn't shown up, so she'd been shopping again and
found a pretty white dress. The airlines don't know where her bag is
(containing among other things, her helmet and riding tights and weight
pad), and when they hear her voice they disconnect the line!
When
you hang out with the FEI director, naturally a main topic of
conversation that continuously comes up is the improvement of the sport
of endurance – qualification criteria for World Championships, finish
times and methods, training of horses and qualification of riders. Many
people have many differing opinions, and those are from many points of
view: from directors of the sport, riders, veterinarians; all address
the primary concern of the welfare of the horse, and most opinions have
valid points that are worth considering.
Business aside, it was
a lovely evening of mingling and eating and imbibing and entertainment.
The Raven, having already sat on Royal Gold Carpet, had his spin on the
Fashion Runway
– after the models and TV cameras of course, so he
wouldn't distract from the show.
http://www.endurance.net/merri/stories/2007/06/raven-jet-sets.html
