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May 2008 • VOLUME 33 • © HORSES For LIFE™ Magazine
THE 2008 KENTUCKY ROLEX EXPERIENCE
As Seen Through the Eyes of a Photographer If someone had told me three years ago that I was to make a photo-journalistic account of this year’s Kentucky Rolex Three-Day Event, I would have been completely surprised. I would have never thought in a lifetime that I and my husband Dwain would ever be photographing the only four-star event in the Western Hemisphere, the premier competition for the top horses and riders in eventing. Photographing the Rolex has probably been one of the toughest challenges in our career as photographers. The horses are huge, unpredictable, mostly dark and pretty darn fast when a rider in need of a new watch or a spot in this year’s Olympic team is sitting on top urging them on. The jumps are enormous and can not compare to what you see on pictures and on television. Standing next to some of them is an experience in itself. These are massive monuments with some of them being almost 5’ tall and others having a 6’ spread. Prior to the cross country phase, I tried to figure out how in the world a horse is ever going to make it over some of these creations…  Little Teddy O’Connor amazingly got lots of air and the loudest cheers of all the horses there… 
Unfortunately, Teddy suffered a catastrophic injury after a freak accident at his home barn earlier this week and had to be euthanized. At only 14.1 hands tall, he was truly incredible and will be greatly missed… He was definitely the star of the event and whenever he appeared, the crowd positively erupted. The gelding, selected to the U.S. Equestrian Federation's short list for eventing in Beijing, was the reigning team and individual gold medalist from the 2007 Pan American Games and had top six finishes at the Rolex Kentucky Three-Day Event in 2007 and 2008. Here are some more images of Karen O’Connor and Theodore…
 As the experience continues, I get a keen sense of the power and accuracy of these muscular power machines. Soon, I am able to capture every vein that pops out on the horse’s neck during exertion, and every rider’s unique expression over the jumps, every flared nostril, nervous eye… Super athletes performing at their best, adrenaline packed riders, some as young at nineteen.
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