Become an Eventing Nation BloggerI was very lucky to meet Clare this afternoon; she may possibly be one of the busiest girls here at Rolex 2011, but also one of the luckiest, and what a great ambassador for the Pony Club. Clare very kindly stopped to chat for a couple of minutes to describe her duties.
I’m very happy to report that Peter Atkins is back at the Kentucky Horse Park, not riding, which makes him rather cross, but busy nonetheless. I managed to collar him into looking at Fence 9 with us, and of course giving us an update on Henny.
I was very lucky to meet Clare this afternoon; she may possibly be one of the busiest girls here at Rolex 2011, but also one of the luckiest, and what a great ambassador for the Pony Club. Clare very kindly stopped to chat for a couple of minutes to describe her duties.
I spent some of the lunch break watching a few of tomorrow’s horses working in the arenas up by the barns. I hadn’t seen Snip, Joe Meyer’s NZ Thoroughbred, in person before, and I like him a lot.
I’m very happy to report that Peter Atkins is back at the Kentucky Horse Park, not riding, which makes him rather cross, but busy nonetheless. I managed to collar him into looking at Fence 9 with us, and of course giving us an update on Henny.
It was a surreal situation this morning when all the Rolex entries, and the Kentucky Cup Reining horses were herded into the Alltech Arena to hunker down until the tornado (warning) had passed. Surprisingly, all the horses behaved really well, most of them standing quietly; dogs had a blast visiting with each other, and most of the people treated it like an impromptu cocktail party, working the room and catching up. Gradually the longer we stayed in there, the louder the chatter became, and surely, if there’s another evacuation someone will think to bring a cooler or two!
Inexplicably, reiner Shane Brown handed his horse to Missy Ransehousen and promptly disappeared. When he did return we made the most of the opportunity, (captive audience, literally!) to ask him a few questions about this weekend’s competition.
Thanks for talking to us, Shane, and thanks for holding the horse, Missy. You’ll be glad to know we were let out shortly afterwards, and the weather is supposed to improve after another round of showers tonight, – it’s pouring down rain as I write. Thanks for letting us bring Rolex to you, it all gets under way proper with the first horse in the ring at 10am. Stay warm and dry, and go eventing at Rolex!
It was a surreal situation this morning when all the Rolex entries, and the Kentucky Cup Reining horses were herded into the Alltech Arena to hunker down until the tornado (warning) had passed. Surprisingly, all the horses behaved really well, most of them standing quietly; dogs had a blast visiting with each other, and most of the people treated it like an impromptu cocktail party, working the room and catching up. Gradually the longer we stayed in there, the louder the chatter became, and surely, if there’s another evacuation someone will think to bring a cooler or two!
In a morning that had already seen every horse entered at Rolex evacuated to the Alltech Indoor Arena, the trot-up was delayed an hour, and then ran the gamut weather-wise, beginning in a downpour, and finishing under blue skies and a determined sun.
In a morning that had already seen every horse entered at Rolex evacuated to the Alltech Indoor Arena, the trot-up was delayed an hour, and then ran the gamut weather-wise, beginning in a downpour, and finishing under blue skies and a determined sun.
I have Badminton and England withdrawal, and if it wasn’t for Rolex starting tomorrow, I don’t think I could have got on that plane. The end of a three day, even if you’re not competing, is such an anti-climax, and there’s unpacking and laundry to be done, not to mention if you were riding, the inevitable post-mortem on performance, the woulda, coulda, shoulda.
I’ve made it to Heathrow; I’m not sure if the journey flew by because my mother was texting me live show-jumping scores from the first round, or because I really was flying, we do drive quite fast over here, that’s my excuse for a fistful of US speeding tickets. I’ve turned in my zoom-zoom little car with gears, I’m biting my lip (the stiff, upper variety), and I’m going to try and post as many of this morning’s photos as I can before I have to board.
Charlotte Opperman tells us how thrilled she is with her horse Wild Lone, ridden by Harry Meade, after a clear cross country round at his first Badminton.
Charlotte Opperman tells us how thrilled she is with her horse Wild Lone, ridden by Harry Meade, after a clear cross country round at his first Badminton.
Tony Pellet competed at Badminton himself, but now helps the riders negotiate their way through the crowds on cross country day. However, don’t completely rule out seeing him don his silks, body protector and number bib again. He had a spare couple of minutes to chat.
Selena O Hanlon rode a beautiful dressage test yesterday to leave her in 10th place overnight, and I found Colombo’s groom Anne-Marie, and asked her what cross country morning is like.
Sam Griffiths’ Happy Times has ben one of my favourite horses for a long time, so I was thrilled to see him grazing calmly on cross country morning and had a chat with his lovely groom Ode, and please excuse me if I mis-spelt your name.
