I don’t know about you, but I’m still shocked that Badminton has been canceled. But, my shock can’t compare to that of the riders who were days away from heading to Badders. Those riders are scrambling today to find an alternative option and Colleen was kind enough to write about her thought process. Be sure to check out Colleen’s website to support their trip to a 4* this year and, as always, thanks for writing this Colleen and thanks to her husband Brian for helping to coordinate her blogs.
—-
From Colleen:
For anyone that knows me, for me to be speechless is virtually unprecedented. Never in a million years would I have thought that Badminton would be canceled. I know, any competition can get canceled, but it just never entered onto my radar. I am totally disheartened and completely disappointed, but what can you do. The pictures show just how much rain has fallen and rather than risk destruction of beautiful ground as well as conditions being impossible for safety, they had to do what they had to do. I just wish my synchronized swimming comments weren’t so apt. The videos from BBC are remarkable.
So, what now?
First and most importantly, I had to apologize to the pony that cross country is now further in the future than I had promised (sometimes it’s the only reason I can get him to do what I want). Second, I am so thankful that did not have to do with an unsoundness or other issue with HRH. Third, I’m scrambling to figure out possible logistics of staying for Luhmuhlen which is 7 weeks away from now. That means I will have been here for 11 weeks. Not at all what I had planned. That’s a very long time away from my family. It runs a whole new gamut of issues into the mix: feed, farrier, expert eyes on the ground, possible help in riding him if/when I make a short visit home, transport (human and horse), possibly finding another competition (2 months without a run may be a bad idea), so on and so forth. I could just pack it in and come home, but then this will have truly been a waste. I could reroute to one of the 3 stars, but I feel like that would be a bit of a waste. So now, we just see if we can get the whole party moved to Germany. Well, Luhmuhlen was on my list anyways, let’s see if we can get there sooner rather than later. Badminton has been put back on my want to do list; rather than look back, we now look forwards to what’s next. We are going to hack for the next couple of weeks so he can let down for a bit and then hopefully be on our way to Germany!
