Eventing enthusiasts are eagerly awaiting tomorrow’s cross-country phase of the 2010 Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games competition. Yesterday afternoon, a group of journalists and photographers perched on tractor-pulled hay wagons for an abbreviated tour of the course.

One of the challenges in creating the course, said course designer Michael Etherington-Smith, was working with the lines of travel created by the additional buildings and facilities erected for the WEG. And, of course, doing something different from the Kentucky Horse Park’s flagship Rolex Kentucky Three-Day Event, held here each April.

“It certainly is a big course,” said Etherington-Smith of his handiwork, which has an allotted time of eleven minutes and fourteen seconds. “They’re going to have to make decisions. If things aren’t going well, they’re going to have to go to plan B,” meaning the somewhat less challenging but more time-consuming alternate routes.

“It is a slightly longish track. Riders will need to be careful not to use their horses up early on,” he said