Even with the 'must have' scarf, I still look cold!
I know - I've not posted about the rest of our journey in the UK. I had written it, but somehow it got gobbled up into cyberspace, then we flew home and I had a bit of washing and domestic life to catch up on. The weather here is now cold and miserable, which bears some resemblance to what we experienced during our last week there. The gist of that week was horses, horses, a bit of rain, and a touch of sightseeing and shopping, and horses (in other words – just about perfect).
John and I stayed with Bek Thompson and Chris Burton for the week following Badminton, and enjoyed seeing "Grubbins Farm" where they are based. They have some massive stables and a lovely arena to work in. Their home is a converted barn, the bedrooms upstairs, and the beams are VERY low.
I went for a few hacks with Bek, wearing my new top boots that I had purchased at Badminton (as you do), riding in the saddle that Chris rode around Badminton in (yep, spot the fan going a bit crazy) and since, rode in at Aachen – that’s probably as close to riding at Aachen that I’ll ever get!
Bek had a job interview in the nearby town called Godalming (which was successful and I seemed to pronounce incorrectly each and every time I said it!), so John and I walked up the High Street (which took about 15 minutes!), and enjoyed being in an English town, with cobbled streets, low ceilings and more history than you can find in the whole of Australia!
London is only 45 minutes by train from Godalming, so John and I travelled up for the day and for some reason, I was lulled into some false sense of security and didn't take a jacket - BAD mistake. While queuing for the London Eye, the weather turned decidedly English on me and it rained and it was COLD. It slowly dawned on me why there are umbrellas for sale EVERYWHERE, however we didn't want to lose our place in the line so I sucked it up, and we made it to the Eye without me getting hypothermia. The weather cleared up for the "ride" which was amazing - such a massive city, with some amazing buildings. I love London - as a visitor (even without warm clothes), but I can’t imagine wanting to live there for too long. We had lunch, and the weather turned foul again, and we then did a quick 40 minute "cruise" on the Thames River. The guide was amusing and informative and I would certainly recommend going on one if you're ever visiting London.
In true tourist style, we went for a quick journey in an iconic black cab over to the Tower of London. The weather was still wonderfully British and fresh, and John had well and truly succumbed to a cold, so our visit there was short and sweet. We followed the Beefeater around the grounds, with him yelling the history of the place to us. Such interesting facts, such that I'm pretty pleased I didn't live in England and had no connection to the royals at all. That King George V was a nutter!
No, it's not another fancy eventing venue, it's Brighton Pavilion
We also made the journey down to Brighton, which was an hour’s drive from Grubbins Farm. Thankfully, I'd woken up to the weather and was more suitably attired. I also know why scarves are so popular there, they’re a bit like your VISA card - don't leave home without one! We walked along the pier, and enjoyed watching the young kids enjoying the rides at the amusement park at the end of it. I was petrified of dropping my phone down through the gaps in the planks of the pier (happy to report I didn’t). We had a lovely meal of Fish and Chips at the restaurant and made our way over to the Brighton Palace. WHAT an amazing display of extravagance in interior design. A truly awe inspiring place, not filled with a huge amount of good taste, but certainly interesting to look at.
This is more like it - none of your hi-tech stuff here - a more 'typical" event at West Buckland Horse Trials
As John was still suffering from his cold, I headed away to an event with Bek, Chris, Sophie and Glenn. Chris had four horses to compete, all in the one day. It was so fascinating going to a “typical” event versus Badminton, which let’s face it, isn’t your normal kind of event!
For starters, all the horses were left on the truck, with the horses being turned sideways and cross tied and tacked up (and studs put in) while still loaded. While Chris was riding this horse, the next one was prepared. Luckily, his draw was fantastic, and he did his dressage on them both, and was able to walk their XC course, then SJ and XC them both in the same order and finished them both by lunch time. Then they were swapped over with the other two horses who were at the back of the truck for their turn. The day was grey and miserable. The rain didn’t pelt down, just drizzled on and off, so it could have been worse, but I was wearing about five layers that day (very similar to an event at Berrima!) He then rode the two Novice horses in the same order, and he was finished by 5:30. I can imagine that if the draw didn’t work out so well there could be a lot of shuffling horses on and off the truck.
So it’s a bit different to the way we do things back here. Also they do all their dressage tests in 20x40 arenas. This saves on space and time I guess, but would take a bit of getting used too! It was one of those days of Chris, and we came home without any placings, so it just goes to show, even the best can have ordinary days.
It had been an entertaining day for me, as I was able to witness just how efficient the tractor driver was at helping stuck trucks. We got towed twice in the space of 10 minutes. Those country lanes are rather small, and when they have huge drains over grown in grass, disaster was almost always going to happen, and then wet weather makes driving across fields rather tricky. So all I can say is, I hope they get a GPS that helps them avoid said narrow country lanes.
Till next time
Kate
