Following Canada's Equestrian Team

Opening Ceremonies Fiesta

The big focus today was the opening ceremonies.
First on the agenda was confirming who wanted to go.
It was absolutely fantastic that the COC had enough passes so that all of our guys who were on Mexican soil could attend the ceremonies if they wanted to, including the grooms!

Although it can be a bit of a tiring process attending the ceremonies, it’s also an incredible experience…and Tom Dvorak, Tina Irwin, Roberta Byng-Morris, Sandra Oxtoby, Annie Richard, Dr. Alan Manning, Tina and myself all attended and took in the festivities.

Because security is continuing to tighten up every day (there was a military helicopter drive-by over the Country Club today), Tina and I made a special trip down to the Village to pick up everyone’s parade passes….and also any clothing which some people had to have altered.

Then back to the country club to hand out the passes, deliver clothing, quickly take a few snaps of our horses so smartly turned out for the practice jog (real one tomorrow at 9am). Then back to the hotel to change into the official opening ceremony gear and head back down to the Village.

I have to admit, we did feel a bit like dorks completely decked out in our Canadian gear with long black shorts and maple leaf flag tattoos on our cheeks holding light-up flags (thank you Craig! they were a huge hit!!)…..but we certainly got a lot of high fives and ‘We love Canada’ as we made our way to our car. (We also got “We love Justin Beiber”….but we did our best to ignore those ones).

Since we arrived early at the Village, we took the opportunity to take a tour around, checking out the residence, gorgeous pool area..and trading pins!! Opening Ceremony time is the best time to build up your pin collection. I was over the moon to finally score a Haiti pin!!

We then gathered at the Canada building, where chef de mission Jacques Cardyn and asst. chef Curt Harnett (husband of 2010 WEG dressage team rider Vicki Winter) gave a rundown of what was to come and got the troops pumped up.

The Mexican outfits were by far the best….and they were the rowdiest there continually breaking out into song and football chants complete with guitars.

In fact, most of the South/Central American countries had terrific chants…I think that’s because they were mostly football chants and football (aka soccer) is still just catching on in a bigger way in Canada.

Fortunately for those Games, it was just a short walk to the stadium. This saved a lot of time and comfort as usually you are packed into buses.

Walking into the stadium is such an incredible experience It really makes you feel that you are part of a much bigger event, instead of just being at a horse show. Seeing all the countries there, the huge cheers as you walk in, the thousands of people packed into the stadium….it’s incredible!

The show Mexico put on was fantastic, capped off with the lighting of the Pan Am flame which now burns brightly at the top of the stadium for the duration of the Games.

And the funniest part was leaving the stadium to the tunes of Shania Twain and Rush. 🙂

Gotta hit the hay as tomorrow is a big day with the Dressage jog in the morning, and the Eventers arriving in the afternoon. Then there will be 2 teams on the ground at 2 different venues. Better eat my wheaties tomorrow!!

I’ll leave yo with some pics.

Canadian Dressage Horses Dig their hooves into Mexican soil

Wow! It’s been a whirlwind of activity since Tina and I landed in Mexico.

First on deck was to meet with COPAG Equestrian Director Mauricio Guerra to get an update on the Pan Am preparations. Mauricio took us on tour of the Guadalajara Country Club where last minute construction is still underway. They have really put in considerable work since I was here in June for the Test Event, including improvements to the footing and the construction of additional rings.

The Dressage horses arrived Tuesday afternoon, with all of us feeling anxious about the weather reports about Hurricane Jova. Tim Dutta kept all of us updated throughout the entire day, from the morning when the horses left Pre-Export Quarantine, to when they loaded onto the plane in Newburg, NY, to the touchdown in Dallas for refueling to their departure for Guadalajara. By all accounts, it was an uneventful flight with a bit of bumpiness near the end. Tom Dvorak did describe an anxious moment when the planed suddenly dropped in altitude due to the turbulence, and at least one horse momentarily experienced zero gravity….but all horses arrived happy & healthy. It always amazes me just how incredibly trusting horses are and what they are willing to tolerate.

The flight was only about 10 mins late.
It taxied into Aerotron just after 2:30pm….this is a private hangar who are a bit more used to celebrity arrivals such has Lady Gaga and the Manchester United football team as opposed to four-legged celebs.

The equipment was unloaded from the plane by 3pm.
It was a very smooth process with the horses being scanned while the
equipment was unloaded.
The grooms/vets did their customs / immigration thing while they were
still unloading the equipment. This was very fast.
Tina and I handed our grooms/athletes/vet their activated accreditation cards.

Horses were loaded onto the trailers first, then equipment was loaded.
The horses stood on the trailer a bit while the final paperwork was
finalized.

By 5:15 pm, we were on the road with the horses.
It was caravan of trailers, with a federali police escort (2 cars at the
rear)…our car followed immediately behind our trailer.
There are now PAG designated lanes, so even though it was rush hour
traffic, it was a smooth journey to the Country Club and the horses
arrived at 6:15pm.
The trailers drove right into the Country Club, by the stabling, horses
unloaded and equipment off.
So from touchdown to in the stall was less than 4 hours. Not too bad considering Rio was more like 7, with our equipment taking even longer

Our Dressage team worked hard to get their stable area all decked out in Red & White so there’s absolutely no mistake whose aisle you are in. This included some wonderful custom made stall signs, which will be a brilliant keepsake after the Games. I can just see them now in a framed shadowbox looking very sharp next to a Pan Ribbon and Medal.

All the horses continue to do well, and tomorrow the sun is finally meant to make an appearance for the first training session. Jog takes place on Saturday morning. Let the Games begin!.