Brief Poplar Place XC Course Preview and a Caption Contest

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Hello Boys! 
First things first – the footing has held up surprisingly well due to lots of prior work – aerating, gravel in some places, and hopefully now that the rain has stopped it will have done nothing but improve the going. The entire Poplar Place team, not just Cross Country Designer Tremaine Cooper, and Course Builder Tyson Rementer work tirelessly anyway, but the weather has made their job even more enormous. 
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The temporary stables flooded on friday, and despite delivering a couple of truck loads of free shavings and extra gravel, the stalls and shed rows are still pretty dire – it is hard not to be upset when your horse is standing in that kind of muck, but I don’t think it’s an excuse to treat the organisers badly – it’s just one of those horrible situations. As an objective outsider it’s easier to see both sides, but if I was involved I know I’d probably have my knickers in a twist too. 
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I was on a curfew walking the course so didn’t take pictures of every single fence – many of the more straight-forward galloping jumps are repeats from a month ago. Lots of these are the same used in different locations in different combinations – the cannon to a corner to a table, all on an angle. 
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Another similar combination earlier in the course with less angle and more room, but still an A, B, C effort – there are quite a few instances where the jumps could have been numbered separately but instead are a combination – the magnificent new water complex for instance.
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The red bridge, the other side of the water, is element C. I can’t imagine anyone wanting to circle in the water anyway, but I suppose stranger things have happened! The B element is the sexy mermaid, the woman of Tyson’s dreams – as one rider remarked while walking the course, let’s hope the horses don’t bang her up too much dropping over her into the water and break his heart! 
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You naughty little Canuck! I always knew there was something more to that shy, reserved, polite reputation the Canadians have going for them!
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The coffin on the advanced course after the water – an angled log to a steep drop, the ditch and then a skinny.
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Looks like Badminton! New at Fence 11, beside the small water next to the woods
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The course is stunningly decorated, the attention to detail is astounding – I caught a glimpse of Tyson and Tremaine in the distance, and was longing to have a quick chat, but they’d gone before I could catch up. Hopefully tomorrow. In the meantime, and again huge thanks to Tremaine for the photo, a caption contest. What exactly is Tyson Rementer, possibly (disclaimer!) the most handsome course builder in the US, doing in this picture?
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We’ll give a Poplar Place T-Shirt to the winner, as judged by Tremaine Cooper himself – entries must be in by midnight on monday Eastern Standard Time. 
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Uh-oh – the bank is back in! I heard horror stories about this fence when I came here a month ago and there seemed to be widespread relief when it wasn’t on the course, but it makes a re-appearance this weekend towards the end of the Advanced course. 
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Last fence, and the course gets the official Leo seal of approval! 
Good luck to everyone in all divisions tomorrow – wishing you safe and speedy rounds. I think I’m most excited to see the comebacks, and it’s hard to ignore the Canadian presence here this weekend. I’m especially hoping the sun shines, and that the officials at the neighbouring zip line attraction tomorrow afternoon will turn a blind eye to the fact that Harry is officially two inches shy of the required height, that might be the last straw! Another early start with Prelim Cross Country under way at 8am and running all day, as well as some divisions show-jumping throughout the afternoon. Thank you for visiting Eventing Nation – Go and get a good night’s sleep and Go Eventing! 
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