Staying the “Course” Up Close and Personal with the Team Designing and Building the Land Rover Kentucky Three-Day Event Cross-Country Course
Unparalleled Experience
Cross-Country day of the Land Rover Kentucky Three-Day Event consistently ranks as the highlight of the weekend each year. But few people understand the time, effort, creativity, craftsmanship and artistry that goes into creating the course. Nearly 150 years of combined experience from the LRK3DE course crew goes into the design, layout and build.
Led by famed course designer Derek di Grazia, the team includes a remarkable cast of characters that pour their experience and love of the craft into each aspect of the course. Our 2023 team includes:
Derek di Grazia – Derek, a competitor since 1968, began formally designing courses in 1986. In 2011, Derek embarked on his journey designing the LRK3DE course. Having won this competition in 1985, he brings a sense of understanding of the terrain which allows him to find new lines and create different courses year after year. His course-building resume includes multiple distinguished courses including the Burghley Horse Trials and Tokyo Olympic course.
Mick Costello – Mick started his work in course building when he was 13 years old. In 1969 he found himself working on a huge 3-day with a group of people he called “The Big Guys” which included Derek who at 14, helped Mick out during the last few weeks of that event. Originally from Monterey, CA Mick started working with his older brother, (a designer and technical delegate,) on course-building in 1975. He moved to KY in 1998 where he started his work with the Kentucky Three-Day. As with the entire team, Mick’s experience includes many great courses such as Fair Hill, Radnor and Pebble Beach in addition to the LRK3DE.
Levi Ryckewaert - Levi, our international representative with this group, has eventing in his blood. Growing up in Belgium he worked on a horse farm where his father was a three-day eventer and organizer. Course building began for Levi in 1993 and in 1999 he moved to England to work on the Badminton Horse Trials. Levi currently lives in Hamilton, MA.
Tyson Rementer – lives with his wife and four perfect children in Winston Salem, NC and tracks his experience back to 1999. Tyson started building jumps at Pleasant Hollow Farms in Quakertown, PA. In exchange for lessons, board and entry fees, he would build jumps and other farm work including bailing hay, cleaning stalls, feeding and turnout. He proved to be a better builder than jockey and settled into that role full time in 2003.
The combined experience of this group includes not only the LRK3DE, but the list is long and distinguished. The Tokyo Olympics, World Equestrian Games, AEC, Carolina International, Essex, Virginia Horse Trials, Great Meadow, Rio Olympics 2016, Maryland 5* at Fair Hill, The Maryland International Horse trials and The Millbrook Horse Trials – just to name a few.
The Course Design
The process around building the course involves year-round planning. Even during the Event, the development of the next year’s course makes its way to top of mind thinking. Each year the team travels to Kentucky multiple times throughout the year, starting in November and continuing right up until the Event begins. The process includes building, installing frangible technology, brushing etc.
A cross-country course first starts with the layout of the track. Each year the track at LRK3DE differs from the prior year. This gives the athletes a new challenge as they will not see the same jumps in the same order and introduces a new set of questions. The importance of a good flow allows the designer to ask these questions based on the ground he is using. Derek continues to think about risk management as the design progresses, which influences the track as well as the types of jumps used on different parts of the course. Additionally, the course asks the athletes to change the speed at which their horses travel based on the terrain and the exercise presented. The many features and changes in the terrain make the Kentucky Horse Park venue great, allowing the designer to find new lines and create different courses year after year. The sheer number of spectators at this competition highlight the importance of an interesting, well-presented course which provides good competition.
Each site contains its own characteristics which makes courses different. How you use the site, the terrain, the natural and man-made features make it interesting. In most instances the land will tell you what type and how the jump should be placed. Listen to the land.
The Jumps & Safety
The time it takes to build individual jumps varies. The fences at the 5* level are in and of themselves each a work of art and very individual. Some of the carvings are created from trees that were native to the Kentucky Horse Park but damaged by storms. The process involves cutting to length, hauling to the yard and it may take three to four days of blocking out, carving then set in situ with the course designer followed by additional guidelines. The entire team works in concert on each fence at the LRK3DE.
Safety improvements in jumps continue to advance including smoother surfaces, increased brush jumps and frangible technology. Much like downhill skiing and race car driving, eventing includes an element of risk. Competitors understand the risk involved, knowing accidents happen. The team strives each year to make more improvements to increase the focus on safety without losing the thrill and excitement. Frangible fences, like those outfitted with frangible pins or MIM hardware, enable the fence to lower in height when struck with outstanding force that could potentially create a problem for horse and rider. Deformable fences, like those built with brush will give way when hit by horses, while still allowing the course designer to create large, imposable looking obstacles.
Nothing improves the safety and well-being of the horses like good turf on which to gallop. Three-day event horses travel at great speeds and jump large fences. Consistent, stable footing allows the horse and rider to perform at their very best.
Dedication to the Craft ~ Camaraderie
Developing a camaraderie seemed to come naturally for this group over the past decade. Mick commented “when Tyson and Levi show up it’s a comedy show. Every day is totally different, and we absolutely love it.” Tyson and Levi have their comments too “The job of course-building is hard work. We don’t have weekends off or get time off for bad weather. I am on the road away from my family more than 300 days a year and being able to share a laugh with people of similar sensibilities is in all honesty probably the best part of the job” says Tyson, and Levi adds “There is a lot of R rated language and banter, but we get on just fine.”
2023 Land Rover Kentucky Three-Day Event Cross-Country Courses
So, what about this year’s 4* and 5* courses? Amazing surprises around every turn. What took the course-building team nearly a year to conceptualize, plan, design, build, set, check and re-check multiple times – will take the 4* rider about seven minutes and the 5* rider about 11.5 minutes to traverse. Then the process starts all over again.
Now that you know what goes into the process, nothing replaces seeing the best eventers in the world navigate the LRK3DE cross-country course in person. One of the best ways to experience the thrill is to set up camp at your tailgating spot along the course. You are encouraged to move about the grounds to see as many of the jumps as possible.
We can’t wait to see you Saturday, April 29 for cross-country day!
