Boyd has generously agreed to keep Eventing Nation updated on the US Team training sessions leading up the the WEGs. For more information on Boyd’s experience or just to say ‘thanks’ to Boyd for being a long-time friend of Eventing Nation, be sure to visit Boyd’s blog. Thanks for writing this Boyd and thank you for reading.
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Kim watching Neville’s gallop
From Boyd:
All the horses galloped Saturday morning starting at 7am. Neville and Comet also did a cross country school with Mark Phillips in the jumping arena at first light before the gallop. I wanted to practice bending lines with corners because Neville hadn’t had any real accuracy questions since Richland. All the riders were given an option for the gallop and most went up the hill three times, and a couple went up two times but at a quicker speed. A team vet took heart and respiration rates after each horse’s final gallop and looked happy with the results.
Woodbrun gets a bath from Emma Ford
We all will have a trot up at 9am Sunday just to check that everyone is looking good after the gallop, but just from glancing at a few informal jogs around the barns Sunday afternoon, all the horses look good. After the jog on Sunday, the horses will either go for a walk or do some light flatwork. Oded is back on Monday and Tuesday to work on our dressage. I intentionally left all of my horses from the AECs here at Chattahoochee Hills, not only to school them over this top class facility but also to keep me occupied and focused.
Usually all the riding takes place first thing in the morning and the riders have the afternoons to themselves. When I’m done riding, I usually spend the afternoons swimming, watching over my dressage test videos with Mark, or hanging out in the camper village with Karen, Max, Amy, and the grooms. Buck and his girlfriend Andrea Leatherman rented a house here and they usually disappear in the afternoons for a bit of romance. Phillip and Buck have also been doing some teaching in the afternoons with local riders.
Point Two’s Team USA Airjacket
In the evenings, there is usually a dinner or cocktail party where everyone gets together. I want to thank Carl Bouckaert for having all the riders, grooms, and support staff over to his beautiful house for a barbecue on Friday night. Clark and Jess Montgomery work with Carl’s horses and they have been incredibly accommodating donating turnout to all the team horses and making sure everyone feels at home. On Saturday night, we all went to former Olympian Julie Richard’s for dinner and had a great time. It’s serious business down here at the US training sessions but everyone is getting along and staying relaxed.
Allison and Arthur
