EN guest blogger and working student Jenny McCoy writes about her Burghley experience.
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From Jenny McCoy:
When I flew over to the UK I was super excited to have this wonderful, detailed, entertaining blog about XC day at Burghley, but silly me forgot about the fact that every time I fly I get sick. SO as much as I would love to write about every second of Burghley, I am afraid I am going to have to make this a quick one or I might scare the little English children down the road when I walk around looking like a Zombie tomorrow. First things first, the shopping was FANTASTIC. When John said to take lots of pictures, he never specified, so I took the liberty to take a picture of the pink rainboot wall that lightened up my morning. I have to admit there weren’t as many good deals as there are at Rolex, but there is a little bit of everything, including a nail salon and massage station.
The food was also amazing, but now that I re-read that statement I realize the food was amazing because it wasn’t actually English. So what I meant was the Belgian waffles were to die for, and the giant Italian Focaccia sandwiches were D-LICIOUS.
Other impressive things included the Burghley-style Range Rover course that hands down beats the Rolex one. I didn’t partake in a car ride as I think there is something to say about waiting in line for an hour and a half to sit in a pricey car for 3 minutes once, let alone twice, but I did get some sweet pictures!
I promise that although I may have missed a ride through the new water to watch one of the Range Rovers go over this hair-raising course, I did actually watch most, if not all of the rides on Saturday!
All of the riding I saw was top class. Every rider had their game face on, and I loved to see the determination in all of their faces over the last few jumps where both horse and rider were exhausted, but still fighting without an ounce of doubt in their minds. The course was MASSIVE yet seemed to ride pretty well all day. Points for Hawley for making the Trout Hatchery look so easy when Gin n’ Juice was still quite revved up. I was heartbroken when I didn’t get to see Hamish’s big smile come through the finish flags, and of course when Icarus and Michael took a tumble at the new water. Jessica Phoenix and Exponential had a flawless round, and Julian Stiller looked to be in great shape when I saw them at fence 31. My favorite xc machine, Shiraz, was ON, as was Coleen, eating up the course like it was nothing. Boyd and Mary win the smiling award for the day for seeming to love their rides the most, and I freely admit I wish I was Laura Collett, looking like she has played this game for decades when she is actually younger than me! All in all it was a lovely day, with lovely weather and my lovely family.
Until Next Time!
xo Jenny
