They say you can see the future through the eyes of the past, and, if so, 2005 might be a particularly insightful year.

It was a year framed by disasters, beginning with the world’s amazingly generous response to the unimaginable devastation caused by the tsunami in Malaysia the day after Christmas. More than 150,000 killed, entire buildings and towns simply wiped out, as if they were on an Etch-A-Sketch, not on a map.

And then there was Hurricane Katrina (and Rita too). This disaster arrived with more warning (some scientists had been predicting it for a decade or more), but few New Orleans residents (or those of us elsewhere in the country) could imagine the immediate or the long-term scale of Katrina’s devastation. It was, truly, a disaster. The loss of life was a pinprick compared to the tsunami, but the destruction and dislocation was every bit as devastating to the area’s culture and economic life.

Perhaps the lesson we, as horse owners, should take away from both of these disasters is the importance of preparation, the theme of Dr. James Hamilton’s keynote speech at the USEA convention early this month (see Dec. 16, p. 73). His point was that a natural (or man-made) disaster would probably confront all of us, at some time, and that we should know what to do before it hits. Hurricanes are, naturally, freshest on our minds, especially after seeing hours of footage of dogs, cats, horses and livestock stranded or roaming around Louisiana and Texas. But we could also face tornadoes, river floods, fires, earthquakes, even blizzards, and we don’t really want to think about terrorism or nuclear war.

Dr. Hamilton observed that he was probably preaching to the choir at the USEA convention–as I’m sure I am with you–because we put so much effort into caring for our horses and pets. Still, his words struck a nerve with me, as I’ve certainly never planned for evacuation. What if–for some unimaginable reason–we had to leave in a hurry? All of our horses wouldn’t fit in our two-horse trailer. What would we do? It’s sobering.

Thankfully, the year ended in a far more optimistic key, with the announcement that FEI officials had finally come to their senses (unlike in 2002) and given the World Equestrian Games to Kentucky. But, in FEI style, just as they’ve finally agreed that the WEG should be held somewhere in the world other than Europe, they’ve decided to remove “World” and “Equestrian” from the name and give the competition the inexplicable title of “FEI Games.” (For their explanation, see Dec. 23, p. 58.)

But I digress. We American horsemen have now been presented with what John Nicholson, the Kentucky Horse Park’s executive director, is calling an “epic moment.” And it’s certainly a moment full of opportunities, even more than when Kentucky got the right to host the 1978 World Three-Day Event Championships 30 years ago. That event created the Kentucky Horse Park, caused the organization of the Rolex Kentucky CCI (our country’s single biggest non-racing, annual equestrian competition), and inspired dozens (perhaps hundreds or even thousands) of teenagers to take up eventing. I don’t think any of us can fully imagine all the effects we could see from the 2010 WEG. (Yes, I’m going to keep calling it that!)

As I look back on the midpoint of this first decade of the 21st century, I’m going to hope that our memories of the unimaginable disasters and our giddy excitement about 2010 really do help us in the future. Happy New Year, everyone.