Day 3
The first day of competition!! The vibe has turned from excitement to nerves overnight. For those who are competing on Friday, like James, there is still a long wait until tomorrow afternoon. The weather has turned cold, wet and very windy. Making keeping the horses looking clean very difficult. Hopefully the weather man is correct and the sun will shine a little more tomorrow!
James had a light ride this morning and again this afternoon with some guidance from Gareth Hughes. He is getting more and more relaxed as he goes out each time! With an easier day for us today it is a great opportunity to support the other Australians competing. In the stable canteen they have set up a large flat screen with seats around for riders and grooms to watch live. So it is convenient if you have a spare five minutes to duck across and catch some of the action.
It's fairly exciting to watch your team mates perform and keep the Australian flag flying high! All the Aussie horses are stabled in a row and there was definitely a buzz in the air when Taperz came back on top of the leader board!!
It's also a good idea today to have a quick shop and browse through the trade stands as they will certainly get busier as the week progresses. Although with over 250 stalls it is impossible to get through all of them when grooming! I have a better idea if the clothing brands I prefer now after being over here for while. A wish list needs to be thought about before coming. And for me I walk past anything that is stocked with tweed, a very popular style for the Brits!
One thing I noticed in the trade stand this year was not only ATM's but also a foreign currency exchange!! I am not sure how the exchange rates compared but there were definitely no excuses for anyone not to spend their life savings!!
I also jumped at the chance to go on a Team Griffiths course walk. Along with Lucy, Sam's wife and Imogen, their groom we headed out to see what all the fuss was about. I only got half way around before having to head back to the stables. The course is running in the opposite direction to last year and there certainly are some tougher questions.
Tonight the riders and grooms get together for a cocktail party in Badminton house, last year the grooms enjoyed a grooms party in the bar 'Outside Chance' with a couple if free drink vouchers, this year however there is no mention of any party. However it wouldn't be right if we didn't go for at least a drink, and a drink never stops at one......
Read Rachel Watts' Snippets from the Stables Day 1 and 2 here
From going for a drink to being in the drink ..................
