Kentucky Colonelcy

I was more astonished than I could express that Governor Matt Bevin has commissioned me as a Kentucky Colonel, for services to global affairs and to international equestrianism. This is Kentucky’s highest state honour, and carries no military obligations. Candidly, I do not feel entirely deserving of the accolade, but I will do my best to reflect positively on the state, its people, and my fellow Kentucky Colonels.

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This is perhaps the only time my horse Bello will be called on to wear his throat beard (a gold orb with a black plume), a traditional symbol of a Colonel’s mount. I expect I will have more frequent occasion to wear my lapel insignia (a gold eagle perched upon an American escutcheon).

Kentucky is often described as “the horse capital of the world", and I have many happy memories of the state from my time as an equestrian athlete and later as professional head of Equestrian Canada. For this reason, I feel especially fortunate to receive the honour of a Kentucky Colonelcy.

My first international competition was the US Cavalry Association’s National Cavalry Competition, held at Fort Knox, where I rode with my colleagues from the Governor General’s Horse Guards. It was my medal results at Fort Knox that enabled me to go on to represent Canada at the International Tent Pegging Championships.

I later had the privilege to take the Canadian Equestrian Team to the 2010 World Equestrian Games (WEG) in Lexington, as the team’s CEO. We were blessed with formidable athletes, talented volunteers and professionals, internationally respected coaches, a joyous team spirit, and our highest-ever Own the Podium funding. As a result, those Games remain, by medal count, Canada’s most successful WEG of all time.

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The lapel pin is the insignia of my Commission as a Kentucky Colonel. The fifteen stars and stripes on the shield reflect Kentucky’s identity as the fifteenth state to join the American Republic, while the eagle is of course the national animal of the United States.

I am deeply conscious that the Governor of Kentucky’s decision to offer me the honour of a Colonelcy was less a result of any personal merits I might have, and more a result of the standing and enthusiasm of the people who put my name forward. I am all the more taken aback by the generosity of their endorsement, because I have never met any of them; I hope I will one day have the chance to personally convey my heartfelt thanks to my nominators.

I am also grateful to my professional and equestrian colleagues, who managed to restrain themselves from indicting my character when they were quietly contacted by my nominators. I wonder, though, if I should be alarmed that my colleagues found it so easy to keep the entire process secret from me…



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My Letters Patent, issued by Kentucky’s Governor Matt Bevin and Secretary of State Alison Lundergan Grimes, formally invest me with the State Title of Honour of Kentucky Colonel.

I decided many years ago not to make general use of any titles, especially in my professional life. I will, therefore, not be going by either “Colonel” or “The Honorable”, other than on those rare occasions when I am specifically fulfilling the responsibilities of the rank. However, Sarah has taken to calling me “Colonel” whenever she becomes exasperated with me (i.e., multiple times a day).

Kentucky Colonelcies are bestowed in an admirably democratic fashion, and thus to a diverse group of people, from volunteers at local food banks to captains of global enterprise. Muhammad Ali, Winston Churchill, and Donald Trump are amongst the best-known Colonels, but Harlan Sanders — founder of the fast food empire — is unquestionably the person most widely-known as a Kentucky Colonel.

If the Kentucky Colonels had a collective spirit animal, I think it could only be Foghorn Leghorn: https://youtu.be/-XbmEJhHovU



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See the original post at https://maharaj.ca/2DqVF1Q