Libby and Shane (with some assistance from Tinks Pottinger) do the Downward Dog
The press conference on the final day is usually a pretty noisy affair. It may be small in size compared to a Badminton or Burghley press conference but, in my humble opinion, this is one of the best (and most unusual) press conferences in the world.
For a start there is champagne (liberally poured by super hospitable event organisers Bridget and Olivia Sutton and not just for the 3* riders), the questions are run by Vicky Glyn who is intelligent and knowledgeable (watch out Peter Morris at Burghley if Vicky ever leaves ESNZ), the riders know how to celebrate and it all overlooks a beautiful venue
But for once in 2016 the pretty noisy press conference was almost drowned out by the equally noisy superstar visitors in the adjoining area. This would normally be heresy but hey, when you have a bevy of Olympians trying out yoga movements, who is going to complain?
I bet you didn’t know that yoga could be noisy? Well, usually maybe not but when Mark Todd, Tinks Pottinger, Shane Rose and Libby Law get together to stretch some places that maybe shouldn’t be stretched (as Shane discovered when trying to do the splits) the noise level intensifies somewhat. And then for some reason Shane Rose put on Donna Smith’s cardigan ........... like I said, this is a press conference like no other in the world and a lot of fun!!
It all started with Libby Law showing some moves .............
Many thanks to Ann Bremner for the photos of Libby
So then the Olympic eventers had a go .................
The Yoda of Yoga Eventing - Mark Todd doing the Downward Dog (above) and Plank (below)
Shane Rose very nearly does the splits but then tiredness sets in !!!!!!!!!!! ............... (or maybe that's a new movement we don't know)
Tinks Pottinger tries to explain the intricacies of yoga to Shane Rose and Stuart Tinney and (maybe) why it relates to horses - see below
Did you know the link between horses and yoga?
In Vedic Sanskrit the word yoga (from the root yuj) means "to add", "to join", "to unite", or "to attach" in its most common literal sense. It comes from the figurative extension of the yoking or harnessing of oxen or horses, then took on broader meanings such as "employment, use, application, performance"
Thanks for the yoga lesson Lib!
