In order for all to go smoothly at the official 2010 FEI World Equestrian Games, there need to be some test runs and pre-game judging forums. Enter: The Kentucky Cup. These will be the official testing games leading up to the fall, 2010 competition bonanza, and they will be held during the summer months of 2009 and the early spring months of 2010. The first two testing competitions that will be held at the Kentucky Horse Park are the reining and the vaulting contests, and these will be the first to take place inside of the brand new indoor stadium.

The Three Day Rolex Event will signal the halt of the 8 separate Kentucky Cup testing competitions, after which the racing and summer seasons will take over before a pause will be made in preparation for the big world games event. These are official qualifying factors, used to determine both the placement of teams going into the World Equestrian Games as well as the overall flow of the functional venues that will hold the competitions next fall. The Kentucky Horse Park is offering the public to view these exciting tests free of charge, and only car parking will be charged during these timed events.

Those who wish to take advantage of these less crowded yet overly exciting and professional testing competitions can take advantage of some very generous hotel group rate codes provided at the Alltech FEI website under testing. Kentucky Horse Park would also like to invite visitors to take advantage of the low admissions costs on these days for the remainder of the park, which include horse drawn tours and two of the finest equine museums in the world. Those who are more interested in house rentals can also find some great opportunities through just a little bit of research.

There will be two phases of both the reining and the vaulting tests on display at the stadium, the reining competition testing in both teams and individuals. Those who wish to volunteer for the world games in the more specialized areas may have been urged to volunteer during the testing events as well, and this is a great opportunity to get familiar with the goings on and demands of the games next year. This is also a wonderful opportunity for those who may not be able to afford the games to get up close to these professional athletes in all of their splendor.