August 4, 2006

HorsesDaily Behind the Scenes for the 2006 FEI World Equestrian Games

Follow the US Eventing WEG Shortlist Updates with Torri Nahorniak from USEF

Gatcombe Will Help Decide the Team

Sorry that it has been a little while since I've written. I think the last point I left off we had just gone to Hickstead and pushed the car home. Since then the horses have gone back into work and everyone is on track with thoughts of WEG.

On Monday Laura Kraut came out and worked with most of the riders over fences. She had some great exercises for everyone and a course was put together for schooling. The horses looked amazing and were happy to be jumping again. That night Sara Dierks arranged tables for us all at the pub where she is staying to listen to a live band and have dinner and it was wonderful. The pizzas and the music were great and we owe her a big thanks for making it all happen. Sara is here with two horses, a young one and then one aimed for Blenheim and it has been great having her with us.

Tuesday was spent either hacking or in the dressage ring. On Wednesday the horses that are running the full event on Saturday, Upstage, Joshua, Close the Deal (Bonnie Mosser's Blenheim horse) and El Primero went for a gallop and cross country school at a local spot. Thursday the remainder of the horses went to Jackdaws Castle to use their gallops. I was not able to go yesterday so cannot describe it in this message but from what I hear it is amazing. I will be going on Tuesday for the next one and will write more about it then.

The Festival of British Eventing at Gatcombe starts today with our horses competing Saturday and Sunday. The event is two minutes down the road from Mark's and it should be an exciting weekend. The parties already started and we had a great cookout last night at the venue. The following horses are running in the Advanced Division tomorrow: Upstage, Brandenburg's Joshua, El Primero, Close the Deal, and Le Samurai (Amy Tryon's Blenheim horse that some of you may remember from Robyn Fisher riding it). On Sunday the following horses will do Dressage and Show Jumping as part of the CIC***: Poggio, Winsome Adante, Northern Spy, Antigua, Task Force, and Jenga. I will send the results and an update tomorrow when we finish. If you want a faster update Google the Gatcombe Horse Trials and they have a good website.

Spirits here are good. We have instituted family dinner nights. Sandy and Karen came up with the idea and it has been a lifesaver. Each night where there are not plans already in place a rider and groom are responsible for cooking dinner for everyone. A new rule was also added that they also had to have a game planned. The first game was great fun - each person gets a name on their back and by asking yes/no questions you have to guess who you are. The second was a dangerous game of spoons which came down to Chrissie and Amy with Chrissie winning out and then we had volleyball and soccer. None of us will be turning professional at these two sports, but we had a great time. We have also had wonderful meals out of this with everyone going all out cooking. It has been really nice not to have to go to a restaurant every night and a whole lot less expensive. On our last night we were joined by Scott Carling from the USEF Marketing Department and his wife Victoria who were in the UK on vacation and brought over some coats that we needed. They will forever be known as Sam and Diane with the Eventers as we played the name game to start. They were great sports and also joined in our volleyball game with Scott proving the ringer for the riders team. It was great to have visitors.

I hope all is well for everyone back in the States and will update everyone on Gatcombe this weekend.