Well it is Friday morning here at Sydney International Equestrian Center and very much pre-dawn, which is also very cold. Today we have Dressage running constantly from 10am til 9pm, with the big guys in the CIC3* World Cup class kicking off at 4pm this afternoon.
For me a constant theme at all events is always late to bed and early to rise, last night I tried to get a good start on a half decent night’s sleep, didn’t work but sleep depravity is Eventing.
Yesterday I started my day walking the four XC courses I am responsible for and what I did love is that they all flow so nicely. There are no unnecessary harsh turns or spots where you wonder why a fence is placed in a particular position, they just have this lovely flowing presence.
The rest of my day was a combination of checking and measuring fences to ensure they comply with the rules, checking Dressage arenas are numbered (or is that lettered) correctly. Touching base with the committee on items like the Riders Reps, crisis management plan and photos of all of the fences for the XC controller and announcer so they know what the fences look like.
All riveting stuff I know, but that is the life of a TD, lots of prep and checking, hopefully the most exciting part of the weekend comes down to the last couple of riders in the jumping. For a TD, a quiet and very boring XC day is always what we hope for because when it gets exciting and interesting usually someone gets hurt.
So this morning kicks off with the World Cup Jog at 7.30am and then for me followed very quickly by the One Star Ground Jury course inspection. This course inspection is when the course get approved by the Jury and then the course can be opened officially to the riders. I guess this is part of the process that many riders don’t see or even know about.
Our One Star Dressage will kick off in the indoor and will run for most of the day. Another thing happening this weekend is that there is an FEI Vets seminar happening here too. In practical terms that means the evening’s entertainment is always a bit more fun. If you have never tried to keep up with a vet drinking, don’t bother, you will always come off second best, all the vets I know have superpowers when it comes to drinking.
Last night at the surprisingly sober hour of 8pm we were treated to some bagpipes by Vet Dr Brett Jones. Normally the bagpipes don’t come out to well after midnight so this was a treat. Don’t get me wrong, bagpipes do sound like someone killing a cat, but it was entertaining. I was a bit slow off the mark and only got this is a bit of a traditional song, I missed the AC/DC.
What I haven’t done yet and hope to, later today is walk the full 3800 meters of the WC XC there are a couple of interesting questions and I really want to see them in context of the full course.
So anyway EN, have a great day and I will be back sometime later in my day today, which for you probably means today, because as you are reading this it is yesterday, confused? Good because that makes two of us.
Yours in Eventing,
ESJ
