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North Georgia, held at Bouckaert Farms, in Chatsworth, Georgia, was always beautifully run by Carl Bouckaert's expert crew. It is difficult to realize we will no longer be driving into that lovely green valley - Ted and I called it "The Emerald City" - heading for another super competition. No more fire breathing dragon on the Cross Country course; no more Captain Mark Phillips designed water complex which suited Preliminary, Intermediate and Advanced levels equally well; no more super performances by the best in the sport of Eventing in their last preps for Rolex or Badminton - Phillip Dutton, Kim Severson, Karen O'Connor - they all ran well at North Georgia (Kim is pictured at the right jumping the fence in the water on He's Got Rhythm, in 2004.); no more roast beef dinners at the Dalton Depot, with its model trains in the foyer and its real freight trains right outside the window; no more lunches at the picnic tables in the stable quadrangle; no more happy memories from Chatsworth.

The Foxhall CCI*** ran the gamut from the sublime to the ridiculous and that's the truth! Remember Jim Richards telling the Atlanta Journal Constitution that Foxhall offered more prize money than Badminton? (and the AJC printed it) - Foxhall didn't, though one year it came close. Remember Jim Richards telling the Atlanta Journal Constitution that Foxhall would attract crowds of more than 100,000? (and the AJC printed that as well) - unfortunately, that prediction never came close to coming true. Jim tried, he tried very hard. The Flower Show seemed like a great idea; but, it didn't work. Why would the people of Atlanta go to the Atlanta Hunt Meeting; but, wouldn't touch Foxhall with a stick? - who knows?

The Press Center was sort of a microcosm of Foxhall. It went from a reasonable size tent with insufficient electrical outlets and insufficient phone lines; to a bigger tent with a full service bar and a full time bar tender and hot luncheons (and insufficient electrical outlets and insufficient phone lines); to a perfect size tent with plenty of electrical outlets and phone lines; to absolutely NOTHING last year. Ironically, the Atlanta Journal Constitution never sent a reporter, though the Dalton newspaper did in a year when there was no longer a Press Officer, so the regular equestrian reporters helped him out as best they could.

Once more the best competitors in the sport of Eventing ran their Three Star horses at Foxhall over another great course designed by Mark Phillips. (Part of eventingetc's logo is actually a photograph of Phillip Dutton jumping onto the island at Foxhall.) The happiest memory of Foxhall is each year's winner sipping Champagne from the beautiful silver trophy. (Steve Bradley, the 2005 winner and one of only two Americans ever to have won the Burghley CCI****, in England, is pictured above at the left drinking Champagne from the great trophy.) No more great competitions and happy memories from beside the Chattahoochee.

What shall be done for an encore? A couple of brash young upstart competitions will try to fit into the shoes of North Georgia and Foxhall - they will find those shoes too large for a while; but, in a few years they'll grow into them and we will all have brand new sets of recollections.

For now let's all say, "Thanks for the memories," to Carl Bouckaert and Jim Richards, while we yearn for Dalton, the Carpet Capital of the World, and wish that we were Way Down Yonder on the Chattahoochee.

Cora Cushny, Editor