The Grand Prix

Originally Published December 23, 2021

We had driven there from Salt Springs in the Ocala National Forest, an hour away on a dead straight, isolated road, leaving the Dollar General stores and BBQ stands far behind. We emerged into Ocala, then passed miles of post and board fencing and verdant pastures, before finally arriving at what seemed like an international airport. Large hangars housed the stables, and a grand hotel and exclusive shops surrounded illiuminated competition rings as bright as runways. We might as well have been in Qatar.

Touring the stables at an event like this you witness some of the highest and most expensive forms of equestrian breeding. Living in a kind of spa environment, they are bathed, groomed, clipped, and massaged. Their coats glisten like a prize fighter. Most are seventeen hands or more, with the strength required to launch over the twenty or more jumps in the Grand Prix.

In their stables they are calm, often friendly, sometimes oblivious or entranced. They are elite athletes, and professional in their demeanor. The only things missing from them is a silk robe with their name emblazoned.