James and I all kitted out at the first trot up and ready to go but ...................
One should always remember to never get too excited too early.
As we headed off into Australia team camp we waved goodbye to Glen and Jade who were looking after things at home for the next two weeks a little bit of excitement kicked in, we were only a week away from being in France and a couple of days later were going to be at the trot up at WEG. Shane and Stuart along with grooms Amy and Lauren and their three horses were already set up at Unicorn Equine Trust. James arrived in camp feeling well, fresh and trotting up very well. He had a gallop the first day we arrived plus dressage or jumping lessons each day onwards.
Gareth Hughes was extremely generous to help out as the dressage coach as he himself was heading to WEG, a few days before us, to represent the Brits in the Dressage arena. You know you have a good coach when they are part of the silver medal winning team. By this stage being so close to the competition it is more about fine tuning the small things for each horse and combination, such as angles and position of rider and horses head etc. they discussed warm up tactics and what works for them.
Team camp was a big learning curve with trot ups each morning, with horse care and attention to detail being vital. We had a grooms' meeting to discuss travel arrangements and what was expected as part of being a groom at Championship level. We were also given the new uniform supplied by Ariat along with matching green and gold rugs for the horses.
Camp also involved some team bonding nights and we all went to the races for an evening, we might have turned up late but I must say Team Burton was on fire winning three from three and tripling the money put on the tab.
We also had a sports night were we had an egg and spoon race, three legged race, sack race, tug of war and a gumboot throw (or wellie throw if you are English) this night proved that the riders should stick to what they know best and ride horses, a few small injuries were gained in the warm up before the competition even started and in a practice gumboot throw we were another man down.
Whenever we head to Unicorn we are spoilt by Fran’s cooking and she certainly goes all out trying to feed us as possible! Little did we know that we should have been filling up as much as possible as the food in France was far less appetising.
We departed Unicorn at 6pm on the Sunday night to catch the 10.50 ferry from Portsmouth to Caen, France. Being in the horse trucks on the ferry you are not allowed to stay down below deck in the trucks in case they start sinking. So we head up stairs to the truckers lounge for some dinner and then off to bed in a room with two bunk beds and a shower and toilet before getting woken up by an alarm in the cabins telling you that you are an hour away from docking in France, followed by an announcement to tell you that you are 40 minutes from docking and that breakfast was now being served.
We jumped back in the trucks after check in on the horses and, remembering to drive on the right side of the road, we were on the road to Normandy and arrived at the venue around 9 am Monday morning.
We were very fortunate that Australia had been organised and sent some helpers over the day earlier to set up the stables, put the horses rubber matting and bedding down and decorate the corridor with flags and banners. All horses travelled really well and were worked lightly that afternoon. Tuesday came and all nations had now arrived, with the Kiwis stables next to us there was plenty of friendly banter going around.
Tuesday was the day we all came to the realisation we were in for a week of eating overcooked vegetables that we couldn’t recognise what they were, stale bread and less than quality meat that you expect when you travel in France. Not what we had expected as the food at the test event supplied to the grooms and riders was amazing!
The food may not have been great but there was plenty to enjoy at the bar! L-R Lauren Bentley (groom for Shane Rose) Graeme Ptts (vet), Imogen Mercer (groom for Sam Griffiths), Nathan Anthony (vet), Amy McGregor (groom for Stuart Tinney) and me!
Wednesday was trot up day and everything was going well, horses were healthy and they all passed the trot up. By now we had figured out where everything was and the horses were allowed in for their first lot of arena familiarisation, the big screen spooked a couple but they all settled well and were working well. After the trot up the team was decided along with a running order and the country order of running was drawn. James was put second out for the team. Thursday you could tell by the buzz in the air that the competition was starting. We were unlucky to be drawn the country after France as the home crowds were electric after their riders had competed and set a few others off in the final warm up.
That afternoon James performed his test which we were all left a little disappointed with but didn’t realise what was about to happen. He was hit with a bout of colic and then got an infection on top of that and no matter what the veterinary team were able to do he wasn’t able to recover in time for the cross country. We are extremely lucky as a nation to have Graeme Potts (UK based) and Nathan Anthony (Aus based) who are so dedicated to the horses and did everything they could for James but unfortunately timing was not on our side and he was withdrawn from the competition leaving Australia with only the three combinations in the team. Meaning if we lost another combination the whole team would be out of contention.
James’ withdrawal was not only disappointing for us and the Australian team but also the owners who had made such an effort to travel not only from the UK but also from Australia, unfortunately he wasn’t able to show the rest of the world what an Aussie thoroughbred is made of. But sadly as we all know these things happen with horses and we just had to keep the Aussie spirit flying high by getting right behind the rest of the team.
I think cross country day proved what Aussies are made of being the only nation to come home without jumping penalties. The track proved difficult with the going extremely deep and riders saying they just felt the horses were not able to get through the going.
That night was a mad rush to look after the horses as well and packing up the gear and trucks ready to depart to Caen immediately after trot up. A lot of us were excited to leave Normandy to hopefully find some warm, clean showers and some decent food.
At the same time we realised that WEG was nearly over and we had been involved in an elite level event representing Australia. We headed into Caen for the showjumping and unfortunately it wasn’t the day for the Aussies to shine dropping a few placings but still finishing a credible 5th and Stuart finishing just outside the top ten individually. The team achieved the main aim of qualifying for the Olympics. I learnt a lot in the two weeks we were together as a team and feel privileged to be able to be a small part of an Australian team.
James travelled home well and we have been keeping a close eye on him just to make sure he is 100%. I am sure he will be out and about soon.
We can’t forget however that just because WEG is over, the rest of the season is still in full swing. As I write I am making the most of the last few nights in my own bed as we are looking forward to four 3DE’s in the next month on the continent. I think I will have about three nights at home in the next month! Fingers crossed for some lovely French food this time!
The Australian grooms in their Ariat gear
