Lexington, KY - The highlight of a sports competition is the presentation of trophies and medals to the winning athletes. Just as the Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games will put Lexington and the Kentucky Horse Park on the world's stage for two weeks, its trophy presentations will put a local company in the spotlight.
Luxury gift store and trophy provider L.V. Harkness, owned by Margaret (Meg) Jewett, was contacted in January, 2007 by the World Games Foundation about providing trophies, ribbons, and medals for the international equestrian competition coming to Lexington from Sept. 24 through Oct. 10.
Jewett decided that not only would L.V. Harkness design and provide these items to the specifications of FEI, the event's governing body, but that her company would also become an official WEG sponsor.
"Lexington is my home," said Jewett. "The best athletes in the world are coming to Lexington-L.V. Harkness & Co. is proud to provide them with the best trophies in the world."
The responsibility of shepherding the WEG trophies from idea through final design through safe delivery in Lexington fell to Whitney Fields, Director of Equine Product Development for L.V. Harkness. Fields emphasized that the project was very much a team effort.
Fields and the three employees in the trophy department design and produce trophies and plaques for national and international equine events and corporations. Local clients include the Lexington Rotary Club and various colleges of the University of Kentucky. Sand carving, laser etching, and engraving are performed in-house.
"We have items priced from $20 to $50,000," Fields said.
She began the process of designing the WEG trophies by collecting photographs of the Kentucky Horse Park, traditional scenes of farm plank fences, and equestrian athletes in performance, some from the previous WEG in Aachen, Germany.
The team trophies are a curve of heavy glass (the distinctive shape chosen by Jewett), mouth-blown into a wooden mold by master glass artists from Moser Crystal in the Czech Republic.
"Meg thought that the prestige of Moser and of the Games would be a perfect fit," Fields explained.
Each design depicts a background of the Kentucky Horse Park's skyline and a traditional four plank fence. In the foreground is a horse and its rider or driver in a movement common to that particular equine discipline. For example, the reining trophy shows the rider pulling his horse back onto its hocks.
To create the hand-engraved design, the glass artist held the curved glass against a copper wheel. Each tiny movement of his hands produced a curved or straight line, gradually making the design and adding texture and depth that can be felt. The horses show specific characteristics of the main breed that competes in each equine discipline.
Artists at a Russian company used a patented 3D laser imaging process to create the trophies for the eight individual winners. They began with a crystal clear solid block of glass, then focusing the beams of three lasers and converging their light to "break" the design deep within each block of glass.
This "laser-induced damage" results in a design that can be viewed from four sides, top, or bottom as it "floats" within the block. Even the words of the title of each trophy appear to be written on air.
The largest individual trophy, for the winner of the Four in Hand Driving competition, weighs 20 pounds. It shows the reins and traces for all four horses, the carriage's lamps, the grooms' top hats, and other features in exquisite detail.
Each trophy is accompanied by a certificate of authenticity. As with any limited edition work of art, the certificate is signed by the artist and includes the number of the particular piece within the limited set. The trophies are each labeled "#1/1."
The trophies took 14 months to create. Each valued at $50,000, their cost was donated by L.V.Harkness.
Despite all of the responsibility and work, Fields noted "how much fun we've had doing the trophies and being part of such a unique type of experience. We're the first ones to provide WEG trophies in the United States."
Reflecting on "the uniqueness, creativity, craftsmanship, and beauty" of the trophies, Fields added, "The trophies stand for what L.V. Harkness is about."