Tag: Robert Ridland

Celebrating With Robert Ridland

By Jackie McFarland

Having the opportunity to speak with the Rolex FEI World Cup Manager of Show Jumping, Robert Ridland, who also happens to be the President of Blenheim EquiSports, both before and after the event was a profound experience.

First let it be said that when Robert Ridland has a job to do, whether that job involves his family, his horse business or the business of our sport, he is completely focused on the task(s) at hand. Getting his attention pre-event was next to impossible, which is commendable for those he is working for – the horses and riders coming to the World Cup. His unwavering goal is to make this event the best it can possibly be for show jumpers worldwide. When asked what he does to help horses and riders settle in once arriving in Vegas, his answer was simply “Everything!”

We did have a celebratory conversation on a day post the final West Coast World Cup qualifier in late March and pre the World Cup Final in mid-April. “This day is unprecedented,” he exclaimed. “What just happened is the most amazing demonstration of sportsmanship I’ve ever witnessed.” The happening he referred to was when both the fourth and fifth ranked World Cup West Coast League riders stepped aside to allow the sixth-ranked rider to compete in the World Cup Finals this year. Gold Medal Olympian Will Simpson (ranked 4th) and previous World Cup competitor Jill Humphrey (ranked 5th) voluntarily stepped aside to allow Rich Fellers (ranked 6th) to be the fourth rider from the West Coast. Since the FEI World Cup is not a team competition, hats off to Will and Jill for acting as team players in an instance where it is not required or even expected. “It leaves us with a good feeling,” Ridland commented.

Ridland was also excited about the West Coast riders who earned spots to compete in Las Vegas – Mandy Porter, Ashlee Bond, Richard Spooner and as mentioned Rich Fellers. Although not the top finishers this year, “Our riders made us all proud,” said Ridland. “They were well-prepared and confident.”

Regarding the 2009 Rolex FEI World Cup Final, the consensus from rider, attendee, press and management was overwhelmingly positive, although bittersweet, knowing the event would not return in 2011. A bit spoiled after having the World Cup Final come to the states, namely to Las Vegas, five times in the last nine years, everyone was wondering – would the World Cup return to the US? To Las Vegas? If so, when? Ridland had the answer and shared it with the press, who in turn get to spread the good word.

Once the three top riders in the world, Champion Meredith Michaels-Beerbaum (GER), second by only two seconds and no faults McLain Ward (USA) and third by just over 4 seconds and no faults Albert Zoer (NED), had been questioned and congratulated at the press conference on Sunday, the parting comment regarding having the event return to Vegas was “this production is on par if not above any other show in the world.” At this point Sven Holmberg, FEI Vice President, stood at the podium and expressed disappointment that Las Vegas Events withdrew their bid for the 2011 and 2013 events. He then introduced Robert Ridland. After ten years of participation, Ridland took the time to honor some of the many names that made this phenomenal event possible year after year, including John Quirk, Bob Maxey, Shawn Davis, Tim Keener and Pat Christensen, among others. He then stated that Blenheim EquiSports, with the full support of Las Vegas Events, would be making a bid to bring the FEI World Cup Finals back to Las Vegas in 2014. “This team, this event is too good to give up,” he said. In response to this announcement Holmberg replied with a smile that the 2014 bid would be “very well received.”

After the amazing competition we were lucky enough to see this year – literally history in the making and potentially never to be repeated. Meredith Michaels-Beerbaum wins her third World Cup Final, the second one she’s garnered in Vegas, and as she so aptly stated “I think this was a great event – it was very, very close. This was the hardest win I’ve ever had. McLain made it difficult, he left no room for error. It was also my most perfect win – winning all three days on a once in a lifetime horse doing this at age 16.”

Think positive, go ahead and mark the dates in your calendars. In just five short years, the FEI World Cup Finals will once again return to Las Vegas. Now that is reason to celebrate.

Conversations With Equestrians: John Quirk

By Jackie McFarland

As John Quirk himself often asks, “Where to begin?” Just start writing is his motto. Read on then for my stream of duly impressed consciousness.

I’ve known John and Tish Quirk since my college years (let’s say for a couple of decades), where I took several semesters off to fuel my passion for horses and competing. One of my adventures away from campus was a brief trip to catch the glorious crown jewel of the indoor circuit, The National Horse Show, at the time still alive and well in NYC. I was supposed to compete but had sold my qualified hunter weeks before. Yet I still wanted to go. Somehow I ended up gallivanting around with the Quirks, publishers of HORSES Magazine, and had a grand time. A fond memory of my youth.

Fast-forward to now. One goal of this e-newsletter was to highlight a few of the people behind the World Cup Finals – not just those fabulous riders that we flock to watch – but the team of people who commit countless hours to provide those horses and riders the perfect stage for their performance. There are many, and we hope to talk with more over the years. Since John Q is the reason the World Cup Finals came to Vegas, he was on the top of the list (not to mention that Robert Ridland spoke so highly of him).

He graciously agreed to have coffee even though the production deadline for the 2009 Rolex FEI World Cup Final Program, at almost 200 pages, loomed. He claimed to welcome the break. During the course of our conversation our coffees grew chilly, my fully charged computer battery died – and a story of five careers unfolded. Since John Q is a young eighty-eight years, he has this incredible depth of experience, vast knowledge and is a phenomenal storyteller.

Now I could go into his string of successes before he got involved in horses via his beautiful wife Tish. And I intend to at another time. John is truly fascinating and an inspiration to us all. But the topic at hand is World Cup and how it came to have five illustrious years of success in Sin City. It’s not often that a person of this caliber enters the sport as an adult, is not a rider, and has the vision to take it places.

Rewind twenty-two years, on a train to Versailles, when a light bulb went off in John’s head. After the success of the 1984 Olympic Games in Los Angeles, why not find a way to host a World Cup Final on the West Coast? From that illuminating moment forward he relentlessly pursued this passion. The light grew brighter as he later envisioned the ideal location for the show of shows – Las Vegas. A few years later, while running and writing for what he and Tish had built into one of the nation’s top equestrian publications, HORSES Magazine, and owning a string of successful show horses, John was working towards his illustrious West Coast World Cup goal when the chance to potentially host the event at the nearby Del Mar Fairgrounds came along. Not able to resist a World Cup occurring within 15 minutes of home, John put aside his Las Vegas dreams and pushed all the buttons to bring a World Cup Final to Del Mar. So just five years after the light bulb blinked, the 1992 Volvo FEI World Cup Final came to fruition on the West Coast. It was a success, however not to be repeated. Allowing a tented structure for this inaugural year, the FEI required a permanent roof, which Del Mar’s arena does not have.

Fast-forward again a couple of years as the light was once again blinking for Vegas. John Q networked his way into the offices of a couple of casino CEOs who embraced the concept and led him to Las Vegas Events. This was a tremendous turning point. The light transformed into an illumination, more masterminds were involved and Sin City planned on a bid for the 2000 World Cup Finals. In 1996 the FEI Board of Directors voted to accept the bid. No longer just a light in the mind of one man, the lights of Vegas, both literally and figuratively, would shine for the Volvo FEI World Cup Final.

John Q continued to play a major role as the illustrious team made of equestrian and event experts began to evolve. This was the beginning of a long-term relationship, a successful marriage of event and equine, culminating in setting a new standard for World Cup Finals.

Here’s where we mention a few of the many hurdles this collective group managed to jump in order to see this inaugural and ensuing events come to life.

Hurdle #1: In 1997, after twenty years of supporting the World Cup, Volvo opted not to renew their sponsorship. Some thought this might be the end of the World Cup Final. Not so. Not only did the Las Vegas Events commitment remain intact, Budweiser came along as the sponsor for 2000. And in later years, as we well know, Rolex took on the title sponsor role.

Reward: Due to the unwavering commitment by Las Vegas Events, they were awarded options to host the World Cup Final in 2003, 2005, 2007. Done.

Hurdle #2: A horse show or an event? That question needed to be answered Vegas style. John Q was on it. The logistics of running a horse show in one indoor arena were challenging enough, but what about the Vegas aspect? When would the entertainment fit in? The light bulb continued to burn brightly for John Q – have the horse show be just the World Cup Final, no other classes, add in the Vegas entertainment, of course some great shopping and then let the thousands of equestrian fans loose on Sin City. Brilliant. Done.

Now John Q would be quick to remind me that the tremendous success of the World Cup in Las Vegas was the work of many. And of course that is true and essential to pulling an event of this magnitude off smoothly. But this piece is about a man who single-handedly had a vision and made it come to life. We just witnessed this vision for the fifth time and hopefully not the last.

To top off this tribute, let it be known that one of John Q’s other careers was a published author. Six successful books in the late sixties. As an author, he pens much of the content in the Rolex FEI World Cup Official Program. Worth reading, his prose is both fun and forthright. This year he wrote ‘Show Jumping 101 – Jumps and Such’ an informational yet funny piece on the basics, the course designer and the thrills and spills of the sport. He along with Max Amman named their top ten. And John Q explained the intricate genius behind the World Cup scoring system. That’s not all – he authored his opinions on happenings in the sport up to this point, including the stories of how Rich Fellers got the wild card and what happened with Anky. Plus a sweet and simple goodbye from John Q and Tish. Although it isn’t really a goodbye, it’s just a so long for now until we come up with another fabulous idea or see you back in Vegas.

All of this, plus my intensive interview and he is eighty-eight years old. I haven’t even told a tenth of the story. Makes you think – what’s your vision? It’s never too late.

Thank you John Q!