The World Equestrian Games have begun! The games take place every 4 years, 2 years before the next olympic games. This year they take place in Kentucky, from September 25th to October 10th.
The games are the world championships for 8 different disciplines: dressage, driving, endurance, eventing, jumping, para dressage, reining, and vaulting. To read more about these and how they are judged see About the Games.
Official poster
A schedule of events is available at alltechfeigames.com, as well as a link to buy tickets, see more about individual athletes, news and to purchase official merchandise.
There are some interesting items available for the games:
Silver medallion — $159.99 (also available in other metals)
Various apparel, this ladies shirt $20
Breyer horse figures
Offical model horse “Esprit”
That model is only availabe in porcelain for $100, but they do have a set of Stablemate models that represent the 8 disicpines for only $32.
If you happen to live in the US, finding the games on TV is a bit difficult. NBC has the official rights to air the games, and has around six and a half hours planned – but only on Sundays. One Sunday of coverage has already passed, but October 2nd, from 1 -6 EST, they will air eventing cross country and jumping phases and on October 1oth, from 4-6 EST, show jumping and the closing ceremonies. Much more of the games will be broadcast on Universal Sports. For a more detailed schedule and more information check out Regarding Horses.
There is also another option for watching the games online, at feitv.org. I was really excited about this option, but the prices are too much for me to be able to watch – $13 for a day or $35 for a month.
I may not get to see any of the games this year, but I hope that you guys can watch and enjoy the games!