LOL- Blueball is such a disaster. It’s like off roading, rally car driving in my Fiat 
Yay- it’ll be fun to meet a fellow COTHer. I’ll be on a bay Morgan mare and paired with a lady with a big chestnut draft cross. We’re both endurance riders attempting to tone down our colors for outriding but I’ll still have a good bit of noticeable purple on my tack
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Sorry to hijack but I didn’t want to start another Fair Hill thread unless I have to…
Is FH a good event to spectate? I’ve never been to a Horse Trial/3-day but I’m very interested in Eventing. Many vendors? Should I bring my own chair? Who are some riders to really watch for? Any other tips if I go?
Yes!! Lots to do, lots to see, easy to walk around the cross country course, tons of vendors and food vendors, demonstrations, and kid and dog friendly. Some people do bring chairs but unless you want to sit at one jump for a long time it’s not necessary and there are bleachers for dressage and stadium days
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It is a great place to spectate! Saturday will be XC. You can get close to the action, but stay outside the ropes. Big crowds can gather around the water jumps, so you kind of need to stake out a close by space to the ropes between riders, because once a rider gets close everyone bunches around. I would recommend going from fence to fence to see lots of the course.
Lots of food, there’s a beer garden and vendors. Sometimes they have dogs for adoption, I know one family that went to watch and brought home a dog!
Prepare for sun, wind and possible rain. There is a lot of walking, though they do have hay wagons moving people around. You park and get in a shuttle to the event site.
I would follow the coverage on http://eventingnation.com/ they will post about it and a COTH member uses past performances to predict the leaders on each phase.
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In addition to what everyone else said there is a GREAT kids area and we’ll be having a ton of new demos this year including some natural horsemanship demonstrations and different drill teams which will be by the main arena running most of the day Saturday.
Dog agility is super fun to watch and the food options are fantastic!
I usually outride but am in charge of special events this year so I’ll be running around all 4 days! Hope to see you there.
I’ll hopefully not be the one on a horse she can’t control, as I’m borrowing a friend’s mount and he was less than impressed by me on our first ride. :lol: Second ride we got along a lot better. I need some good vibes that we have a non-eventful day!
My own horse decided she wanted a fall vacation and is doing everything in her power to remain laid up. :rolleyes:
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Fair Hill is a great event to spectate! Thursday is pretty quiet. Friday the shops open and there will be more people there watching Dressage but still not a big crowd. Dressage day I usually bring my very quiet never barks dog and a blanket to sit on. There are bleachers or you can bring your own chair. I also like to watch at the warm up ring, which you will walk by on the way to the big ring. This day you can park in the Gallaher Road lot.
Saturday is very busy if good weather. You will park at the Fairgrounds (follow event signs) and take a school bus over. There’s not usually a long wait, as they have multiple buses on the route. Your dog can go on the bus. Great vendors…keep an eye out for the tent with Crab Bisque Lots of walking, but as another poster said they do have a hay wagon taking you down to the Start/vet box. The beer garden is additional, not included in General admission.
Sunday is also a busy day if good weather. Unless you’re there early for a bleacher seat, bring your own chair/blanket as they fill up. You’ll also need to ride the bus this day. If you stay til the end, the Boy Scouts sell the decorative mums near the exit.
oh! And the YEH Championships are very fun to watch as well! Mimosas are served
It’s a great event for spectators, as many have mentioned! I’ve been going for years, even when bringing two kids means I hardly see any riding, LOL. They have the dog agility, kids area (and in years past have had small petting zoos, or animal/bird demos, etc), and good vendors, plus the course is very walkable. They have shuttle service from the entrance area to the start/finish area of the course, and food vendors last year were set up at multiple places instead of just at the “food court” area. There are several spots where you can set up and see a good amount of the course - near the start/finish, you can watch horses coming and going, and see at least six or seven efforts from the same spot, including a small water. Over by the entrance, you can see them coming across the road, down the drop and up the hill on one side, and down the hill and through the water on the other.
Vendors are not KY-level, but there’s a good sized tent and then a few pop-up vendors.
The parking/shuttle situation is very well organized as well. It’s about the only large horse event in this area that I will brave taking my two kids to without help (they’re 6 and 2, this is an undertaking LOL)
The weather is almost always highly variable - partly cloudy so that when the sun’s out you’ll be OK in a t-shirt, but when the clouds come back you’ll want at LEAST a jacket. So wear/bring layers It’s also usually soft/muddy ground.
Really hoping it doesn’t rain this year as it’s one of my fall traditions/routines but I don’t think I could do it in the rain unless I left the offspring at home.
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Are you talking about Vermiculus? He only made it to fence 18 at WEG. I would imagine she gave him a couple of weeks of turnout/light work and then started him back up. She won’t have to do a lot of fitness work to get him ready for Fair Hill so it would make sense to run him.
Not just him, but he was one of them. Even at fence 18, with all the prep for the event etc I was considering. WEG was just over a month ago. But it seems as though most people think this is fine so I will just observe how the pairs do over the next few years and maybe learn something.
Sorry if this is off-topic–is the course walk with Dan and Kaitlin Clasing only for 4H, Pony Club, and FHI volunteers, as indicated on the schedule of events? Thanks.
Weather for both Elkton and Fair Hill now indicates it should just be cloudy (20% chance of rain)
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Yes, seems safe to say they described it in print for only PC, 4H and Volunteers because it is indeed for this demographic exclusively.
Yes. Worth going as this is the top of the sport…but remember it’s a high level…lots of lower levels that are not as daunting if you want to participate.
Sat is the best day to go. Not much sitting around unless you join one of the tailgate groups. Then we are usually sitting eating and drinking:). Best way to watch is to walk the course. Stop and watch a few horses at each jump. There are several places where you can stand and see more than one jump at once. And there are a few places with grand stands where you can sit and watch. People will generally be happy to answer questions.
Sunday is the jogs in the morning (for die hard fans) then the show jumping. The show jumping is not as impressive as Grandprix SJ BUT you have to remember that each of these horses and riders just did Dressage (about 3rd level) and xc. It’s tge versatility that makes this sport super challenging.
Have fun!!
Thanks everyone for the info. I’ll be there on Saturday to watch xcountry!
My ammy hunter princess self is going to spectate Saturday (my first time seeing XC live) and I’m SO EXCITED!!! I convinced my fiancé it would be a fun way to spend our anniversary :lol:
Crossing fingers for no rain and that’s looking better every day!
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It’s definitely a fun way to spend your anniversary 
when my husband comes with me I take him straight to the beer cart and then he’s happy following me around all day lol
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I will be there Saturday. I am doing groom shuttle in the afternoon. Last minute fill in for somebody that had to cancel.
I’ll look for you. I’m grooming!
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