Welcome to Auckland
Having got up at 3am to drive to Melbourne airport, I fell to sleep as soon as the flight to New Zealand took off; when I re-opened my eyes we were descending into Auckland and the first thing I saw (honestly) was a long white cloud against a bright blue background.
Scrabbling for my phone to take a photo in a somewhat disoriented state of course I missed the perfect photo shot (Libby Law would have snapped it easily) and by the time the camera was ready we were descending in steadily darkening clouds. Then by the time we landed it was well and truly raining – welcome to Auckland! Or Nau Mai, Haere Mai!
The home of the Puhinui International 3 Day Event is literally a few minutes’ drive from the airport and we were there just in time for the first horse inspection. Another arrival, far more famous than us, turned up about the same time – the world number one eventing rider, Andrew Nicholson is spending a couple of days here, giving young New Zealand riders the benefit of his expertise and me a hand over a fence.
Isn't that a great smile? Your intrepid, and somewhat clumsy correspondant, is trying to clamber over a fence without breaking her neck or injuring a helpful Andrew
Hopefully we’ll have a full interview tomorrow but Andrew explained today that he was back in New Zealand to spend some time in the Waikato, the area he grew up in, to support an initiative for young sportspeople in the area. Luckily this coincides with Puhinui, an event he last rode at many years ago, and he’s taking the opportunity to catch up with New Zealand based riders and pass on some of his knowledge to the Young Rider and Eventing Performance Squad riders at the event, including a CCI2* cross country course walk today.
Nick Brooks and Versace C are caught in one of many downpours
However, before the course walk in the beautiful evening sun, first came the first horse inspection in the pouring rain. The sensible people huddled in a small marquee as the officials, riders, horses and helpers braved the inclement weather and Monica Johns, mother of Anne Marie Styles, provided a useful and amusing commentary. As rugs were stripped from the horses and their backs became exposed to the needles of rain, a couple of them decided that it was much more fun to gallop back to the truck area rather than play ‘trotsies’ on the runway, providing some entertainment for those watching on.
Kate Munt's elegant wellies and Arctic Cielo
Only one horse was held, Valinco ridden by James Jackson, but was passed on re-presenting while Kate Munt, riding Arctic Cielo in the CCI 1*, won the An Eventful Life trot up award for the best trot-up outfit. The ability to run and look good in wellies is a skill that should never be underestimated in the sport of eventing. Well done Kate. Another lady that looked smart in difficult conditions was Dannie Lodder who presented Simon Gordon’s Fletch.com and her own, very fit looking Moochi, for inspection. At the risk of sounding like Woman’s Own magazine, a handy hint here girls is to follow Dannie’s example and use leggings under a skirt for blustery conditions
The large contingent of horses in the CCI2* look like they are going to provide an interesting competition. Young rider Samantha Felton, who has had success despite breaking a hip earlier in the year, presented three lovely looking horses and must be one to watch in this event. Sarah Broughton’s Rockhill Rocket lived up to his name and rocketed back to the truck without his handler while Donna Smith’s Balmoral Sensation looked impressive. The eight horses presented in the CCI3* were beautifully turned out despite the weather and certainly look fit enough to take on Tich Massey’s course
It is a beautiful course which looked even better once the sun decided to make an appearance. Walking the course with Andrew provided some gems of wisdom for the Young Rider squad members (above) such as his comment at the apexes at Fence 7ab
“When I walk courses in the UK with riders coming from New Zealand, I find that their horses tend to land much shorter than mine after the fences. They ride the line pretty much the same way I would but they are effectively adding a stride at each fence”
New Zealand Olympic medallist and Performance Leader for the Eventing Performance Squad, Tinks Pottinger asks if this could be the reason why Andrew is so fast on course and, with that famous lop-sided grin, Andrew said “Maybe it is”
Many of the suggestions as to how to approach the fences sounded so easy and so obvious when pointed out by the world’s number one eventing rider. Whether the implementation is quite so easy will be discovered on Saturday when these young riders get to put his advice into practice.
Tomorrow Samantha Felton riding Ricker Ridge Escada (Cato Packaging CCI2*), Dannie Lodder riding Waitangi Password (Veterinary Associates CCI1*) and local rider Cara Goodman riding Wynyard Albert (Horse and Pony Magazine CCN105) kick off the dressage phase from 9am although there is a rider breakfast with Andrew before the competition starts and the Honda New Zealand CCI3* dressage starts at 3:15pm. See you tomorrow!
CLICK HERE to view all fences on the CCI3* course
