Derosa Daily
On The Scene at the FEI Las Vegas World Cup for Dressage and Showjumping

In Vegas - It was a Bloomin' World Cup

They thought of everything in Vegas from the perfect footing, to colorful décor. It surely was a bloomin’ World Cup thanks to Richard Jeffery, who was in charge of the flowers. You couldn’t miss the beautiful bouquets because they adorned every jump in colors that matched the jump or highlighted it. There were yellows and reds and blues and greens and even purples and when you walked in the arena the fresh smell was refreshing. For the final day of the World Cup while over 10,000 spectators watched Meredith Michaels-Beerbaum win it all, they also saw color everywhere.

The footing also was first class. I do believe it was the first time I never heard one negative comment about the footing. At one point I overhead a conversation by a couple who talked about the fact that the ingredients to make the perfect mixture for the horses was carefully selected and continually raked. For the dressage horses it was fluffed a bit more than for the show jumpers because while the dressage horses wanted that spring, for the show jumpers it was important that when they landed they had a solid base to work off of. When the horses dug in their feet the ground had to be there for them and not give away. That solid base helped give the horses and the riders the confidence they needed to do whatever it took to get the job done.