Friday, August 8, 2008

It All Begins

Finally...it all begins!! After 11 inches of rain in five hours, the "puddles" started to clear, and we could get the horses out. Ring familiarization went well on Thursday night although a little chaotic as it was open to everyone at once. Yesterday, the grooms went to Beas River, the cross-country venue. Unfortunately, we did not get to walk the cross-country course, but we checked out the horses' accommodation; nice large stalls, air conditioning and close to warm-ups. The riders have now walked a couple of times, from all accounts the general feeling seem to be of a twisty course with the questions really starting at fence 4. Phillip says that he thinks the time will be very hard to get, although he is glad to have Simon here for this track.

The jog went well for all today, nothing too exciting to report there...probably a good thing!! Tomorrow Allyson has an early start with Poggio going just before 7 am, Gina goes around 9 am. Becky gets to ride under the lights at 8.30 pm, and then Karen and Phillip go Sunday........

Tonight, they held an opening ceremony at the Jockey Club and then had live feed to Beijing. Gina got to carry the flag for the USA. Fun was had by all with good food and wine although the riders left early for obvious reasons!!

Well that's about it for now, until more later......

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