Current date and time in Hong Kong
August 13th 2007
Showjumping
SECOND ROUND - FINAL RESULTS
Both Megan & Shane jumped clear in the second round (Shane incurred 1 time fault), Shane finished 3rd and Megan 4th.
German riders in 1st & 2nd (I'm not sure exactly which German riders).
Both Megan & Shane each had 1 rail down in the FIRST round of showjumping. Megan is now sitting in 6th position and Shane
in 4th position.
The jumps are just going up now, and the second round of showjumping will commence soon.
Trot up
Both aussie horses have passed the vet check. Showjumping is later tonight, updates to come...
August 12th 2007
Cross Country
Both Megan & Shane had great rides on Cross Country. German riders are sitting in 1st and 2nd, with Shane in 3rd and Megan in 4th position after Cross Country.
Scores are very close, less than 2 rails between 1st and 4th.
Loads of XC photos ONLINE NOW - go to the Gallery.
Cross Country Results
August 11th 2007
LET THE (test) GAMES BEGIN!!
Megan & Shane sitting in =6th after dressage
Hello to you all... we survived the typhoon that ended up being a total waste of panicking energy!!! Just some
wind and rain so we trotted up at 7.30 this morning. The poor Irish rider withdrew in the holding box, but everyone
passed no problem. The dressage started at 9.20am I will have all the results later but Shane and I are both equal 6th,
however I a have some "inside" information - I don’t think the British rider who is running 3rd will start tomorrow.
So we wil be equal 5th then. The scores are very tight and there are two rounds of show jumping to do on the last day
so there is a long way to go. Heini did a super test and was stung in his marks but I was so happy with him as you’ll
see from the photos he looks pretty snazzy. It rained on me a lot today and they needed the lights on because the
light was so poor due to all the typhoon cloud hanging around.
The horses are moved to the cross country venue today and the girls will stay the night out there tonight, we will
walk the course again today and there should be some photos up soon. We attempted to upload some video and a virtual
tour of the venue but the connection is slow we calculated it would take 2.5 years to upload half of it on the web site
from here... you’ll just have to wait for video until we get home, sorry.
That’s all for now see ya
Megan
The dressage has started.
Shane due to ride at 9.50am and Megan is due to ride at 10.52am! I have put a clock in
above with the local Hong Kong time... no more trying to work out time differences!
Vet check is complete
Both Megan & Shane horses have passed the vetcheck. I believe all other horses passed, with the exception of a horse from
Ireland who has withdrawn.
Dressage is later on today - keep an eye on this site for the latest information.
August 10th 2007
TROT UP POSTPONED DUE TO TYPHOON PABUK!!!
Would you believe that the trot up has had to be postponed until tomorrow - an update from Megan is below....
Wow they wanted to test everything at the Olympic test event and they had to even put plans into place in case of a
typhoon. As it is typhoon season here in Hong Kong and well they got what they wanted. The first horse inspection at
5pm on Friday 10th August has been cancelled due to a level 8 typhoon warning!! We had a scare yesterday but the
typhoon missed us now it? done a turn tail and is coming back! Dressage is meant to start at 6.30 am tomorrow morning
with the local riders competition but we?l see. There is a team managers and officials meeting tonight to see what is
going to happen. This is getting very exciting now.
The whole thing came about quite suddenly as Karen called at 3pm and asked me to go by a supermarket and get Michelle
and her some food as there was a good chance that the typhoon would come back later today and if we wanted them to stay
with the horses after the vet horse inspection the food hall would be closed and they would be left a bit hungry. Then
15mins later Brett came to our room and told us the inspection is cancelled so poor Karen and Michelle have to live on
bananas and snickers chocolate bars tonight. All the grooms are there with the horses so I guess we?l just hang on now
see what is going to happen. Steve and I are on the 13 follr so I think we might just go down to the bar lounge area
closer to ground level!
I?l keep you posted.
Megan
August 9th 2007
Hello everyone we are starting to get into the business end of our time here. On Tuesday morning Shane and I did
our gallop, now this was very cool. We didn? use the race track proper but we were able to use the grass track
the jockey club use, and they are only allowed to use it twice a week! The track is 1300m long with a slight
incline on the last 500m. As you trot down the track to the end you go along the walking and bike track and this
is on the edge of the harbor river where there are lots of rowing teams training and people biking. It is just
so amazing and the footing on the track well that? just something else again, I have never felt anything like it
just totally perfect turf.
Then on Wednesday night we had a fully dressed show jumping course set under lights and 90 seconds per rider in the
ring to jump or just ride around. We had the tail of I typhoon heading our way but we managed to not get wet. When
it rains man it rains, and being from SA we just don? get that tropical type rain so it always amazes me how much
water come down in these showers.
Heini jumped really well and stayed quite in the ring I was pleased with him Shane? horse also jumped well. Then the
storm came in during the night and dumped a lot of rain. But all the surfaces here held up very well to the wet weather
as you would expect them to.
We schooled this morning (Thursday) and had our riders briefing and cross country course walk this afternoon. The
cross country course is on a golf course and the Hong Kong ?questrian horses are all kept at a complex next to the
golf course at Beas River. The local horses are kept in two story stable complexes and the facilities for them are
quite nice.
The cross country course is very nice we have 12 fences and we do the track two times so it will be a 7min 55sec course.
There is a parallel competition for the ?ocals riders running at a preliminary level and they do one lap of the
course over smaller fences.
Tomorrow we have the vet check and that is not until 5pm when it is a little cooler.
So bye for now, I?l check in tomorrow and I promise we will have some photos up by then also as Daddy is arriving
tonight and I seem to be unable to get photos from camera to computer to internet. My skills are really limited to
just riding.
Megan & Heini
August 7th 2007
Hi to every one,
Sorry this has been a few days late coming but I just keep getting held up and not able to sit down and
write something...... well ok to busy riding my ONE horse and err..... shopping and sight seeing.
The horses left on Wednesday 1st August 2007 at 10am with Shane and Vet Denis Goulding as there minders. While
Karen Conk (my groom), Michelle Robson (Shane's groom), Wayne Roycroft (National Coach), Brett Mace
(High Performance Manager), Steve and I flew out at 10.45am. The horses flew well but we didn't get to se them
until Thursday morning, but I bumped into Shane in the lift up to my room and he said they were all bedded down
for the night.
Steve and I went out for dinner on Wednesday night and were surprised to find we had to get a number and wait
outside our chosen restaurant for 40mins to get a seat. And seriously it was the same at every one we went to so we
just took our number and waited. We finally got a table at 9.40pm and when we came out at 10.30pm the malls
were still busy, the shops close at 11pm!!! Can you believe that? But it was off to bed for me as I was a little
tired and needed my beauty sleep.
We took on the shuttle bus service provided for the teams to get into the venue.... what an ordeal first we take
the bus from our hotel to the grooms hotel then to the venue this takes 20mins and the venue is actually only 2km
away!! Then we get off and go through the screening point where our accreditation bar code is zapped and we go
through metal detectors and our bags are xrayed just like in the airports. Then we get on another bus to take us
back about 700m and into another entry. Then we get off and walk to the horses. We do our normal jog up every
morning just like in any team situation and like I do every day at a three day event anyway.
We just did a schooling session on the horses in the morning in the air conditioned indoor arena.... very nice
indeed as it is hot and humid, but I would say more hot as the skies were very clear and the sun had serious bite
to it. It hadn't rained here for about 10 days with record breaking hot weather.
My horse Heini felt quite fresh, the flight didn't knock him around at all so I was pleased to feel him so fresh.
We decided to keep a lot of our work in the indoor arena to start with so as not to knock the horses to flat. In
our plan for the 10 days between arriving and competing Denis wanted to try and get one gallop and one other
slight stress day in before cross country day. So on day two we did a little cross country school/canter over in
what is called 'Penfold Park' this is a cross country training course and a perfect grass track in the middle of
the famous 'Shatin' race course. This got them puffing and sweating even though we did it at 6pm at night and we
were in the shade of the high rise buildings it was still hot. This level of stress so soon after flying is not
the normal but as this is a test event we need to see how the horses are reacting to the conditions here.
On Saturday morning Steve and I decided to walk to the venue along the river and what a sight. As everyone here in
Honkers lives in apartments there isn't much space to be doing very much inside. So the parks and walking/cycling
tracks have all these people doing Ti Chi in groups or just on there own. It's quite an amazing sight and very
peaceful. The walk took us about 25mins, the rest of our group went in the new team car with our own driver,
Brett organized this after deciding the shuttle was too hard but as our driver went AWOL in our return trip maybe
the shuttle was easier. We seemed to get a different driver each trip and it was quite an ordeal to even get him to
come and get us. I think the walking option is the best at this stage. Friday afternoon Steve, Shane and I took the
trains to Hong Kong Island and took a ride up onto Victoria Peak this had some amazing views of Hong Kong city
and the bay. The underground trains were so good and so easy to use even I didn't get lost.
We just had a schooling session on Saturday in the indoor then finished up in the outdoor arena 20mx60m with a
little fence just like the competition ring in the heat. Steve and I did a bike ride on Saturday just a 22km trip
around the bay and home again. It was scorching hot and the bits I missed with sun screen got totally fried. Then
we had a welcome party in Soho in Hong Kong, the bus ride took over an hour as the traffic was so bad. It would
have been easier to get the train there! oh well the party was good and Karen and Michelle had a great time,
it's very important to keep the grooms happy as they tend to run the show back at the stables, happy groom happy
horse.
Sunday Shane and I had a jump session while Brett got our driver sorted and I think we have him under control....
I think there is always a good chance of him going AWOL again I'm sure.
Monday night was our first chance to take the horses into the main arenas and we could jump in there also so we
just did a dressage school in the morning. Monday was also the first day it rained and wow did it rain or what???
It just poured down. We jumped in the main ring at 7pm under the amazing lights and in some serious rain also I
don't know if my jods are going to dry out tonight or not. In fact the whole place is amazing as you'll see when
my video footage finally gets onto the web sight. The footings are all waxed sand and felt, this is a surface the
horses, I feel, need to get a bit used to as they do tend to trip a little behind in it if they are not totally
through. The stables are rubber lined everything and totally air conditioned I don't think Karen or Heini will want
to come home. The misting tents are good but they didn't have ice cold water coming through the fans but I think
they are changing that as we asked the organizers to and they are trying everything to make it perfect. And the
facilities are certainly world class.
So tomorrow we gallop on the famous Shatin race course on the training gallop track, so I hope Heini is feeling
fast after his jump under the lights.
That all for now
Megan and Shiny Heini