Some Rolex Kentucky CCI**** veterans recall their most memorable trips around cross-country.

John Williams

Both my best and my worst trips around Rolex were in 2002. Carrick was second that year behind Kim Severson, and I had such a great ride around cross-country on him.

He went early in the day, and it was one of those rides where everything worked well. We found every jump perfectly, it was smooth and easy, everything went to plan, and it was like jumping a hunter round. There wasn’t anything particularly exciting about it, but sometimes that’s a good thing!

Then, later in the day, it started raining. Hard. It got so bad that a lot of riders withdrew, but for some reason I decided to go on Hazmat. On steeplechase, it was raining so hard that I couldn’t keep my eyes open.

At some point in the approach to each fence, the desire to see the fence overcame the pain of the raindrops hitting my eyes, but then once I landed, I would duck my head, close my eyes, and just peek every now and then to see where I was going. I don’t know why I kept going. Hazmat was just a little horse—15.3 hands or so—and he was ornery and harder to ride than Carrick. But I just kept jumping jumps, one at a time.

About halfway around the course, we jumped into the Head Of The Lake. We had a weak jump in, and I just couldn’t get remotivated, so we didn’t get the next jump done. I pulled up and put my hand up, saying I was done for the day, and then I was walking around in the water jump, trying to find a way out.

One of the spectators leaned over the ropes and handed me a beer. I took it, cracked it open, and walked back to the barn. It wasn’t a terrible day, but it certainly was memorable!

Phyllis Dawson

At the 1988 Rolex, it was the Olympic Games selection trials, and it was one of the most brutal courses any of us had ever seen. Bruce Davidson was my coach at the time and rode around on one of his younger horses and had a fall and cracked his ribs. When I came into the vet box, I saw him and said, “Bruce, how did the course ride?”

He said, “Everything’s riding much worse than we thought,” and walked away. I was a little bit speechless.

But I had a wonderfully great ride on Albany II around what is probably still to date one of the most difficult courses I’ve ever jumped.

Another particularly memorable one for me was in 1997 on Half Magic. I’d had a fall on an earlier horse and was in quite a bit of pain. As I was going around roads and tracks, I couldn’t stop thinking, “How am I going to do this? It hurts so much?” But adrenaline is an amazing thing, and I had a great ride around the cross-country and ended up placing.

And, of course, there’s a worst memory too. For me, that would be falling off Star Bright in the Head Of The Lake in front of thousands of people in 1999. He had an awkward jump in and just twisted. Later, Mark Phillips came up to me and said, “You just plain fell off.”

Dozens of people I didn’t know—spectators—sent me photographs of me falling. No one had ever sent me pictures when I did it well, but they had to share when I got wet.

Ashley MacVaugh

I’ve ridden around Rolex five times—all on All’s Fair. The worst time I had there was in 2007. I was having a clean, fast round, and he just clipped a table with a front leg and I shot off him and was on the ground. He didn’t fall and was fine, so I did get back on and finish. It was so frustrating because he’d been spot-on to that point, and we were almost home. It was just an unlucky jump.

My best ride was the year before, in 2006. He jumped everything out of stride, and it all rode so well. It’s such an exhilarating feeling when you feel like the horse is so enjoying himself and looking for the next fence. When you cross the finish line you feel like all the months of time and effort and conditioning in preparation were just completely worth it. There isn’t a better feeling. There’s just something about Rolex, with the open galloping and the beautiful turf.

Bruce Davidson Sr.

Of course, the year I rode Little Tricky in the rain [in 2002] stands out in my memory. I’ve certainly ridden in the rain before, but that was something else.

He was such an exceptional and brave horse that it was OK. I had a great many wonderful rides around Rolex with JJ Babu and Dr. Peaches. Might Tango in 1978 [winning at the first World Championships] was a memorable day. Happy Talk’s win [in 1993] was a lot of fun not just for me, but also for his owner Brendan Furlong. Each year has moments I remember.

What makes it really special for me, though, is to remember what people were in the group and who was involved that year. We’ve had a lot of fun personalities with us.

I’ve also fallen a bit at the Horse Park. My first time there with Eagle Lion, I think he was 7. I think I fell off twice on cross-country—not from mistakes, but because he jumped me off. In any big competition, if you’re really putting it on the line, not every single fence comes up perfectly. There are plenty of close calls that I’d do over again if I could, but that I’ve gotten away with on the day.

Gretchen Butts

I’ve ridden at Rolex twice on Zydeco, and they were pretty different experiences. My first time, in 2003, was not atypical of anyone’s first time doing a four-star. I felt all the anxieties associated with that first-time experience. But Zydeco was a real star, and it turned out to be everything I’d hoped for and more.

Going there my second time, I had the advantage of having been there and done that before. You can be completely prepared, but until you get to race day, you don’t know exactly how things are going to turn out. I remember that year it had rained on Friday, so they changed the finish of the steeplechase. They put a diagram up, and I went to the riders’ meeting, and they said it was completely idiot-proof.

Well, it wasn’t idiot-proof. I actually had to turn around and go back to get through the finish flags, and I picked up a lot of time penalties. I was kicking myself, thinking “I can’t believe this happened. What a silly way to blow your whole day.” But I just had to put it behind me and go on.

And he jumped around cross-country great—he was a star. They were two very different runs—each with their own mental challenges.

Stephen Bradley

It’s very hard to think what might be my best trip. I’ve had several really good trips around. In 1996, when it was still a three-star and the final selection trials for the Atlanta Olympics, I won on Dr. Dolittle. That was especially exciting because he was a very difficult horse in the beginning. He turned into a really fun horse to ride. For the last few years I’ve been very lucky to have nice horses like From and Brandenburg’s Joshua. They’ve both jumped around Rolex a few times, and every time out I thoroughly enjoy it.

But not all the memories are so good. Back in 1992, it was the final selection for the Barcelona Olympic Games. I had a really nasty fall with High Flying Brent at a fence called the Unfinished Bridge. They had a coop at the edge of a bridge over a creek, with a big gap and drop over the creek. It was only about the seventh or eighth fence, and it was a really rough way to start the day.

I found a long one to it, and it was totally my mistake. He tried to touch down in the air, and it all went bad.

Phillip Dutton

One of my best rounds came when I wasn’t really expecting it, on Truluck in 2007. He had only done one three-star before he went to Rolex, so I wasn’t quite sure what to expect from him, honestly. But the further he went around, the better he got. He gained confidence, and it was quite a rewarding round for me. That’s how it’s meant to be on cross-country. He really grew up and learned on that round.

I’ve had other years that were memorable, but not things you want to remember. I ended up in the Head Of The Lake one year on I’m So Brite and then Connaught didn’t get through the sunken road one year. You’re never far from anything with horses—great things or mistakes. But generally, Rolex is a great experience for the horses.