12.30.15
2015 Year End Review: 10th Year
As I look back on 2015 I am reminded of why this site came into existence, ten years ago this month the announcement was made that Kentucky had won the right to host the 2010 FEI World Equestrian Games. As Lexington Kentucky is consider the Horse Capital of the World I dubbed them the Kentucky World Equestrian Games and launched this site as a means to put my talents to use supporting those and future Games. The 2010 Games are of course a bit more then 5 years in the past now though I still believe their impact is felt in this region.
The big example for this year was the 2015 Breeders Cup, which myself and others feel has a direct connection to the 2010 Games, even those who say the Breeders Cup would have eventually come to Lexington with out us hosting the Games can’t deny that the Games at the very least brought it here sooner then it otherwise may have naturally occurred. I actually tend to disagree with that as it doesn’t really make sense that it should take the Breeders Cup 31 years to come to Keeneland considering the history and importance of this track but I know there are individuals who can make the argument why Keeneland hadn’t and my response to them then is, then why now, what changed, after a moment of their puzzlement, I say, the 2010 Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games is what happened.
Though we didn’t win the bid in 2014 to host the 2018 Games, Bromont’s win was still viewed as a plus because it again brought the Games to North America, so we were disappointed to hear recently that there are some questions about the integrity of the final proposal in regards to the final document submitted by the Mayor of Bromont. The current information on the investigation can be found here. Our hope is this is more a technicality in that not all the details were clearly documented as opposed to a more blatant omission of who was ultimately responsible for the financial requirements of the Games.
Looking forward to 2016, we hope we can be more involved in continuing the case to our new Governor to submit a bid for the 2022 Games. On a personal note we are leading our county 4-H Horse Program and are looking forward in being involved in the next generation of horse industry leaders.
Happy New Year 2016!
Kentucky Colonel
Thomas P. Demond
KyWEGO®
AbitaNet Corporation