Christine and Mathew enjoy a family wedding
I'm in trouble … it's been five months since my last blog. Oops Sorry.
So the last blog I wrote was just after the London Olympics which I think is way too long between blogs. For me the second half of the eventing season has been fairly quiet with Adelaide Hill and Delago having some well-earned rest after two hard seasons competing in my quest for selection for London. It was also time to catch up with the family and spend some quality time together. I'm sure William's teachers thought I didn’t exist.
The downside of Adelaide having a nice little holiday is that after about 16 days off he starts to revert back to his old brumby ways. First it starts with not wanting his rug on at night and gets to the point you can no longer catch him. Enticing him with food only works for so long and then it takes more than one person to catch him. The problem with multiple people trying to catch him is that he thinks all people are completely scary. So after about six weeks of holiday it was time for him to come back into work.
I tried to ride him the first day back and nearly fell off within about 100m of leaving the stable block. I got off pretty smartly. He was then sent to the breaking in barn for Matthew. His new home for the next four weeks was a walk in walk out stable, which made life for our staff much easier. It was a strange look to see Adelaide back in the breaking in saddle and Matthew riding him again. Several of Matthew's clients asked what ‘breaker’ he was riding, which was slightly embarrassing when we had to tell them that it’s your own four star eventer! Once back in work and into his normal routine Adelaide is one of the most gentle and soft horses I have ever owned and a staff favourite despite his quirks and idiosyncrasies. Delago on the hand had nearly three months holiday and on his first day back in work he felt like he never had a day off. Although he now looks more like a warmblood than a exceptionally well bred thoroughbred. I'm sure he has put on at least 100kg.
Fatty - aka Adelaide Hill
Meanwhile I've had a couple of young horses competing. Gunbarrell a 5 year old Thoroughbred and Ali Foye's Kung Fu Panda GP. Gunbarrell had several wins at Quirindi, SIÈC and Canberra. Although we did have bit of a nasty fall coming out of the water at Equestriad in the preliminary. Apparently I was extremely fast to my feet … I do think I'm getting better at falling off. I certainly don't have that amazing stick ability like Andrew Nicholson. The up side of Equestriad was that Kung Fu Panda won his pre novice section, which was great for his owners and a good last run before he stepped up into 1*.
Equestriad was also William's sixth birthday and although we had a dinner and cake at the event we promised him he could have a party at home the following weekend. William was very lucky as we hired a jumping castle with a water slide which helped to keep nearly twenty 6 years old boys entertained for four hours. After talking to other parents about why it is best to have a party for only two hours, I understand why. All in all everybody had a great time and it was a chance to meet Williams' friends and their parents.
William and 'Floppy' get fitted out for the wedding
It was then off to Perth for my brother's wedding. When we arrived in Perth it was straight to a suit hire shop because I discovered I had left William's suit at the dry cleaners in Sydney. It was then onto pre wedding drinks and a chance to catch up with family and friends before the big day. We all had fun getting ready for the wedding despite the not so nice weather which caused there to be a last minute change of venue guaranteed to throw everyone into a stress.
The Brookleigh stables provided the perfect wedding aisle
The plan for the ceremony had been for outside but due to the strong winds and rain the ceremony was moved inside. Anyone who knows my brother knows he is not horsey so you can imagine the payout he received from me as he walked down the aisle of the Brookleigh stables. I'm certainly never going to let him live that one down. I must say they did an amazing job of turning the stables into the most beautiful wedding ceremony, you would have never guessed it was not the planned site. Onto the reception, which was held at Stuarts, which is also located at Brookleigh.
Newlyweds - David and Kathryn MacLeod
The newly weds looked fantastic and I don't think I have laughed so hard for a long time when it came to the speeches. Some very interesting stories were told - much to the disbelief of my parents. It was also a great chance to catch up with a few eventing families John and Gay Meyer, parents of Kiwi eventer Joe Meyer ( mum’s godson) and Pauline and Rob Fredericks, parents of Clayton Fredericks. Let’s just say there has been many many drinking sessions all over the world with these families and some very funny times and stories to tell. The next day, despite a very sore head, it was of to my 20 year school reunion. It was great to catch up with everyone even though not many remembered who I was until I said I was the horsey chick. How things have not changed in the last 20 years. Ha Ha.
John and Wendy MacLeod
Gay Meyer and Pauline Fredericks
Meanwhile William and Matthew spent the day with long time family friends Gary and Bloss Thomas at their amazing property in Gingin. Gary and Boss import Speckled cattle from Canada and have started an amazing breeding herd. Mum and I met up with them later in the day for a massive family BBQ and we finished the evening with Gary reading Banjo Patterson poems. It was a great night. To finish our trip in Perth I took Matthew and William on a sightseeing adventure, which included The Aquarium at Hillary's, Perth Zoo, Cottesloe Beach and finally a late lunch in Fremantle. We all had a great time in Perth but it soon over and we were on the plane to Sydney to get back to some work.
It was tempting not to go to Goulburn after seeing the snow photos
I had three horses going to Goulburn, Delago (2 star), Kung Fu Panda (1star) and Gunbarrell in the preliminary. On Friday morning before leaving for Goulburn we were experiencing torrential rain while people were sending us photos of Goulburn covered in snow. This was not helping the motivation in preparing the horses to leave. Once we finally arrived in Goulburn Friday lunchtime most of the snow had melted and the sun was out and it turned out to be a great weekend. The horses performed well with Delago finishing 2nd in the 2 star by 0.1 and Kung Fu Panda 12th in the 1 star and Gunbarrell 5th in the preliminary. Although they placed well they did all feel like they needed the run. The following weekend the horses went to Sydney Jump Club where they jumped several training rounds . It was then off to Canberra which was my final event for the season.
Kung Fu Panda at Goulburn. Photo - Jenelle Christopher
Delago at Goulburn. Photo - Jenelle Christopher
Canberra was an eventful trip which included two tyre changes and it was soon clear that I was going to be late. After a frantic phone call to Kate Mackenzie and some new times it was all sorted. Somehow I managed to do two dressage tests and a show jumping round all within one hour. Kung Fu Panda performed well all weekend just picking up some time penalties cross country to finish sixth in the CIC*. Gunbarrell really showed me he's all class with a fantastic dressage test and super jumping efforts both show jumping and cross country. He finished on a score of 32.40 some 12 penalties ahead of second place. It was a nice way to finish the season and I'm already looking forward to next season which is going to be busy and hopefully successful.
Since Canberra I have been very busy teaching and running some training days with fellow eventer Sandy Lucas. My dedicated students have also kept me occupied and making the most of me being available for some regular lessons. I had a quick trip to Equitana to help out my wonderful sponsors (Mario and Anne Kuna) of Butet Saddles and GPA Clothing on their trade stand. Although this was a work related trip it was also great to catch up with everyone and maybe a few too many drinks were had on the Saturday night. It was then back to riding and some more teaching.
I had not planned to go to Adelaide 3DE this year competing or spectating but sometimes plans change. Matthew set up the laptop to the flat screen TV so we could all watch the Cross Country from Adelaide. One of my students (Libby Lowery) was competing in the CCI2* so I was a little nervous and jokingly suggested that if she made the top ten after cross country I would fly to Adelaide. Libby was lying 23rd after dressage and then made the top ten after a great cross country round which saw her in eighth place. So I booked a flight at 2pm and landed in Adelaide at 8pm that evening. Although Libby had a couple of rails down in the Showjumping which dropped her to 12th place it was a fantastic result and I was a very proud coach. Libby also finished fifth in the Young Riders and second in Young Rider teams. I had a great time in Adelaide despite not competing and for those that were wondering no I didn't do a repeat of last year on the pool table … you will just have to wait untill I win again in Adelaide.
I have also been busy with a new business venture. Matthew and I are expanding our business to now include a cross country training course and a hill gallop track, which will be available for hire hopefully in the new year. We will keep you all updated on the progress. I also have a new project that will be launching soon through Over The Top, thanks to Karl for his long term support.
Enjoying the Dolphin Show at Sea World
Currently Matthew, William and I are on holidays in Queensland. We are staying on Broadbeach on the Gold Coast so we are just around the corner from those lovely theme parks. William is having a ball and I just don't know where he gets his energy from. I have requested that we have a day off from the theme parks today before we hit Wet 'n Wild. I was thinking that some outlet shopping might be a good idea because I have not even started the Christmas shopping.
Beach fun for Mathew and William
Before I finish I would just like to say to say a big thank you to my sponsors who have supported my Team this year: New South Wales Institute of Sport, Equestrian Australia, Over The Top, Butet Saddles, GPA Clothing, Sydney Equestrian Supplies and Robank Feeds, Perform Air, Horseland (Richmond store), Southern Stars Saddlery and new sponsor Tuffrock. Big thank you to everyone who supports Team Bates - our success is not possible without all your help. A special thanks to our staff (Rosie, Caroline, Natalie and Libby) at Bates Equestrian for looking after the property, horses and the rest of our animals while we are away.
Wishing everyone a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year from all at Team Bates.
