Sorry you missed the equine village! It had the best bathrooms 
Truthfully, there was lots of good stuff over there (including a booth for the Akhal-Teke that I helped with) as well as the normal attractions of the park - the International Museum of the Horse, The Saddlebred museum, the Hall of Champions, the Driving Barn, etc. – so many things, in fact, that I could not take all of it in even in ten days of crusing through. Some of the clinicians, who are used to being the main attraction, not a sideline, were a bit upset with the lack of traffic over there and tried to negotiate for space in the Trade show area (where the booths cost twice as much) – they did get signs over there announcing their demos. Once the dressage started and the numbers of visitors climbed, there was very little down time.
The first few days, we were really wishing for better maps and a catalog ourselves. However, the response from those who did find their way over was great - riders from all nations, some there to compete, some to cheer, and many who had heard of the breed or knew someone who owned one, some who had even ridden an Akhal-Teke. Sometimes there were waves of people and I was mostly just able to hand out booklets, other times you could have real give-and-take conversations - we even met folks who had Tarpans - and rode them. The school kids who were coming through on the weekdays loved getting a free postcard and learning about a new breed. There is actually one at the Horse Park, and the woman who rides him in their breed exhibitions came over to say how much she loves working with him him. For the breeders who invested so much to be there, usually this number of conversations about your horses take place over years, if you are lucky. I don’t know that it contributes directly to sales, but if you haven’t heard of a breed, how can you covet them?
So I got to see the games from three perspectives - as a friend of a “vendor,” as “media” for endurance, and as a dressage and eventing fan. I felt like the woman who turned to me and sighed. “I’d like to ride that… just once in my life would be enough.” It was Fuego XII’s piaffe she was referring to, I believe. This is stuff we just don’t get in Western Washington very often.
The volunteers were all extraordinarily friendly – not just the ones I knew already because they too had trekked out from Seattle to be there. In the early morning, there was more time for conversation and I enjoyed meeting some of the Kentucky folks who were taking their reputation for hospitality seriously.
Of course there were plenty of logistical rough spots - we noticed better signage, transportation for the reining fans who had to go such a huge distance from the entrance, and all kinds of other improvements as the games went on. The sheer size of the park made it hard, but the flip side that there were so many vantage points that even those who could not afford the event ticket prices got to see a flavor of everything.
