TDN Weekend December 2016 Issue 9
Issue link: https://www.e-digitaleditions.com/i/1087484
A s the sun peeks up over the horizon and shines its first light across the gently rolling hills of the Ocala Jockey Club, it signals a new day, full of promise. From her perch on the clubhouse balcony, Pavla Nygaard can survey nearly the entire property. From the stallions being brought out in the morning mist and the training di- vision, where the 2-year-olds are preparing for their turn around the track, to the weanlings and breeding stock waiting patiently (or not so patiently) for their breakfast, schedule and routine lay the foundation for the day. But today is far from routine. Looking across to the other side of the farm, it's a much different scene. Gone are the pastures and four-board fence, and instead is an expanse of land dotted with mas- sive cross-country obstacles and riding arenas. There, some of the best horses and riders in the world are warm- ing up for the 3nd annual Ocala Jockey Club Internation- al Three-Day Event, which has quickly become one of the most prestigious eventing competitions in North America. The view, and the life she leads today, is something Nygaard could truly never have fathomed as she sat with her mother in an Austrian refugee camp after fleeing com- munist Czechoslovakia. The pair had left their homeland in search of a better life, leaving behind everything and everyone they knew.