Megan's Diary
August 28th 2006
The final WEG phone interview with Megan and Jester...
Emma: What a big week! How are you feeling now it's all over?
Megan: Relieved!! Though, I would like to ride XC again! I am very proud of Jester and very proud to be a part Australia's
first World Equestrian Games medal winning team. It has been really special.
Emma: So, how was the showjumping?
Megan: Great, I was feeling reasonably relaxed. Jester warmed up perfectly and I knew if I rode him well that he'd jump clear.
I was very focused.
Emma: What about after your round?
Megan: Buzzing! I can hardly explain in words what the feeling is like to be riding in that stadium with a massive crowd.
Sensational! I was also so happy to have jumped clear, I didn't know the exact scores between Australia and the USA but I
knew it was so close neither myself or Clayton could afford a rail.
Emma: What about receiving your medal, up on the podium?
Megan: It was really wet! It was so exciting, to really be able to take in the crowd - and the noise, just an amazing
atmosphere. And it was an honour to be standing up there with so many terrific riders.
Emma: So, do you like your Medal?
Megan: Of course! It's still around my neck because I'm too scared I'll lose it! I think even with a bit of brasso I might
be able to shine it up to gold.... haha
Emma: What are your plans now?
Megan: Well, right at the moment our bags are packed and we're about to catch a train to Zurich.
Emma: So you're having some time off?
Megan: Yep, Steve and I are going to travel for a couple of weeks. Lots of cycling, mountain climbing and sunbaking. We have
come all this way so we might as well make the most of it!
Emma: What are your plans when you get back to Australia?
Megan: Straight back into it! I have an event in Canberra, then off to Goulburn and we'll pick up Jester from quarantine on
the way back. Also I'll be getting straight back into teaching.
Emma: Are you riding at Adelaide International Horse Trials this year?
Megan: Yes, I will have Rolly and Floyd in the CIC**.
Emma: I see in the photo's that you caught up with Samantha Blunden over there?
Megan: Yes, isn't it exciting. Sam & Tristyn did such a great job in the Vaulting. It's the best Aussie Vaulting performance
at a World Games. It's so great to see Sam going so well, I think we can be proud that our retired eventers helped her earlier
in her Vaulting career.
Emma: Final comments from the WEG?
Megan: I wish I could relive it all over again! Aachen is an amazing city, absolutely dedicated to horses. This has been a
wonderful experience. I also want to thank everyone again. Festy for being the most amazing horse, all my wonderful sponsors,
the Australian coaches & support personnel - Patch and Bear, Sam for helping me warm up for Showjumping. Karen for taking
care of Jester and allowing me to concentrate on riding. Louise for looking after my horses back home. You & Daniel for
helping look after the farm. Steve for putting up with me and being so supporting. And thank you to mummy and daddy for
being my biggest supporters for my whole life, without them I couldn't have made it here.
And I'd also like to say good luck to Wendy, Shane and Lucinda who are going on to compete at Burghley. I'd also like to see
Janelle come home and win Adelaide. Also a personal message to Amanda, I'll let your rub the medal on your head - you are
terrific and I'm thinking of you.
And I'd like to say a very big happy birthday to 2 special people who have birthday's coming up.... Happy 60th to mummy and
Happy 90th to nanna!
And of course Jester wants to have his say too...
Emma: Jester, how were you feeling for the showjumping?
Jester: Really good. I wasn't tired at all (I made sure I got lots of sleep during the week). I got a bit excited when I
entered the stadium, boy that crowd was big and loud! So I thought I'd better show off and put in a clear round, I wanted
everyone to cheer for me.
Emma: What about after the round, what was it like?
Jester: I was wrapt, everyone was cheering! I was a little embarrassed about the saggy skin on my bottom (because it was all
pushed back from me going so fast on cross country!), but mum tucked it in for me so that was ok. It was also nice to have
my high heels taken off (the studs), I don't like to cross dress for too long - I might be a gelding, but I'm ALL BOY.
Emma: How about the medal ceremony?
Jester: The big loud crowd was excellent. It thundered a bit, but I'm brave. I had a bit of a snooze. There was a camera on
some funny wires, I wasn't so sure about that. The lap of honour was lots of fun, I even got to jump some pot plants!
Emma: So what are you doing now?
Jester: Getting on the truck and going to England with Karen and into quarantine so I can come home - I hope no one has been
in my paddock, I know how much grass there was when I left and it better all be there when I get home! Oh, and mum got me some
new shipping boots - of all things, they are red and orange... very bright and a little too retro for me I think!
Emma: Any last comments from the WEG?
Jester: I'd like to thank K-Mart for the really yummy tasting licorice. The feed store for having the best carrots, and Steve
for feeding me lots of them! Also to Steve's arm, it's a terrific pillow. Grandma & Grandpa for making the big trip over, it
was really nice to have some familiar faces in the crowd. To Karen for being a great nanny. And to mum for being.... well,
for being my mum - I love her to bits.
August 26th 2006
Another "phone interview" diary entry from Megan...
Emma: Congratulations for a great ride today.
Megan: Thanks, I was really happy with the course as a whole, but am obviously disappointed about
my stop.
Emma: Yes, your stop. What happened?
Megan: Well, we always knew it would be a tough fence and had I been riding later in the draw I
would have definitely taken the option as it caused plenty of issues. I was going pretty well with the clock,
and in hindsight I should have just taken the option. But at that stage, Festy was firing on all
cylinders and I was going for time. Unfortunately I came in a little too fast, Festy just didn't have
enough time in front of the fence and he glanced off.
Emma: How did Jester feel on course and at the end?
Megan: Fast! He really went up a gear today. I am so pleased with him, he just felt amazing. This is
the fittest he's ever been. Wayne was also extremely happy with him and Bear thought he was in great
shape at the end.
Emma: What was the going like? I'd heard that it was looking spongy and there was some concern
about it getting heavy.
Megan: It held up really well. The organisers have done a great job with the whole venue. I guess
they're used to all the rain, so know how to deal with it.
Emma: Tomorrow is the all important showjumping. How are you feeling?
Megan: I'm really looking forward to tomorrow. It's all pretty close and the team is a real chance
for a medal.
Emma: Any last comments?
Megan: Again, I just want to thank all my supporters and sponsors - you guys are great. I really am
so excited to be here.
Jester heard that I was doing another phone interview with Megan and muzzled his way in...
Emma: Jester! Nice to talk to you again.
Jester: G'day
Emma: So, what was it like out on course today?
Jester: Well, one thing is for sure - I wont need a facelift for a while! I feel like my skin is all
pulled back from going so fast!!! I had so much FUN! I suggested I could do that big race in Melbourne,
but mum laughed at me... I don't know why...
Emma: So, besides going really fast - what were the jumps like?
Jester: Fun! They were really good, pretty tricky - but I'm smart so that's ok.
Emma: What about the second water, what happened there?
Jester: Like I said, I'm smart. Mum had me coming in a little too fast (which was FUN!) but just at the
last moment I realised I'd been looking at the crowd and hadn't taken much notice of when I should lift
up my legs. So because I'm smart, I didn't lift up my legs - I just kept going past the jump. I wanted
mum to jump it in the other direction anyway - so everyone could see my face with the skin pulled
back tight.
Emma: So what are you going to do tonight?
Jester: Well, I'm far too excited to sleep (plus I'm getting a name around the stables, the other
horses laugh at me for sleeping so much - they even offered me a pillow to take on cross country...
very funny. I showed them!). Oh yeah, the question... Well, I think I'll just eat tonight, relax a
little and have a think about tomorrow - I'm looking forward to tomorrow.
Emma: Well Jester, I'll let you get back to eating - you deserve it.
Jester: Thank Aunty Em. I'll be sure to spray mum with snot tomorrow, she loves it... And make sure you show people
this
photo, it's proof that I was going so fast my skin was getting pulled back!
August 25th 2006
Since Megan can't very well get to a computer and write her diary, I have done a "phone interview" diary with her...
Emma: Hey Megs, congratulations so far. How are you feeling?
Megan: Hi Ems, thanks. I'm feeling pretty good!
Emma: So, how did Festy feel before the test yesterday?
Megan: He was feeling good, he was soft and happy and I was feeling fairly confident.
Emma: So, what was it like during your test - could you feel the atmosphere?
Megan: Not really, it's down to business in the test which is a bit of a shame because you want to feel the excitement but
you can't.
Emma: What about the end of the test?
Megan: I waved a bit, but I was a bit shy - I should have waved more. I was happy and quite excited to be winning for a while.
Emma: How does the course look?
Megan: It tough, no doubt about it. Tight, twisty, hard lines and all the long options are really long.
Emma: Any thoughts on how you'll ride it?
Megan: Clear & fast!
Emma: What about the options, any team instructions?
Megan: We don't want to give the game plan away! Nah, the last water is pretty tricky, there are some pretty serious
angles. We'll just monitor how it's riding.
Emma: How is the 'team' feeling?
Megan: I think everyone is feeling pretty good. We are all excited.
Emma: Thanks for filling us all in Megs. Any thing else you'd like to add?
Megan: I'd just like to say a BIG THANK YOU to everyone back home and around the world for their support. Ems has read out
all the messages, wow - you guys are great! We'll keep on doing our best!
And not wanting Jester to feel left out, I had a little chat with him as well...
Emma: So Jester, what's it like being at the World Equestrian Games?
Jester: It's pretty boring really, I just sleep a lot. Oh, and get lots of pats & treats (I have mastered the cutest "give
me a treat" face).
Emma: How do you feel about your dressage performance?
Jester: Pretty chuffed with myself!! I even had a little victory nap, a horse has to get his beauty sleep!
Emma: So how are you feeling about the Cross Country tomorrow?
Jester: I'm looking forward to it! I love cross country. I got a little revved up today when we did some jumping, then I had
another nap.
Emma: Well Jester, thank you for staying awake long enough to talk to me. Have fun tomorrow. Any last comments?
Jester: Where's my pillow....
August 20th 2006
Das ist gudt und........ well that’s about the limit of my German and it's probably all wrong anyway!! I should maybe just stick to trying to get my own language right first. Well, since the BIG announcement, not a lot has happened. We are all still going slightly mad, but the week has now sped up and before we know it, it will be all over. Festy has been a very good boy, but he had today, Saturday, off to sleep. I think he's been up late partying too much with Fox (Wendy’s horse). I had a quieter than usual day. I went and had my hair cut as I was starting to look something like the yeti. I'm not so sure how many waxing places there are here in Germany, however, there's certainly none near where we are!! I think that I’ll have to wait until I'm in Aachen and try there on Tuesday. It will be a quiet day as we move in on Monday and trot up is not until Wednesday.
I really need to extend a huge thank you to everyone that has supported me, my clients, friends, my super dooper manager Leigh and all my terrific sponsors. THANK YOU ALL and I will do better than my best next week and we'll see where that puts me. You may find it a little strange that I have not really mentioned any of the other riders. This is because we are actually not permitted to comment on anything other than ourselves and our horses. ...but just a cheeky one ... did you know that ... no sorry can't tell you that! (bad joke) But as an overview, we have an amazing 9 horses
here and we could have filled two incredible teams with them.
I also need to thank the CROWNED WEB WIZARD of HAHNDORF (aka my little
sister Ems Jones- oops she's married now so Mrs Emma Spencer-Gardner). She has done everything on the web site and keeps me on my toes making sure that I've sent in my updates and that I keep taking photos. I love ya Ems thanks! Also thank you to Emma's hubby Daniel for being "farmer" while
our parents are over here.
There is Festy’s nanny Karen Conk, doing a great job keeping Festy full of licorice and apples and taking those great photos of me riding that she actually managed to make look half decent! Karen is also the one responsible for uploading all the photos onto the web. She asked me if I wanted to learn how to do it!!?? AHH technology!! I got a rash just at the thought of being so informed of the workings of the web. I'm seriously allergic to technology, best if someone else does it... so thank you Karen.
Then, there is Louise Chapman who is at home keeping Kirby Park functioning while I’m away. She is also keeping my other horses in work so that I can take them to Adelaide CIC** when I return. Louise is also a critical part of the team and without her help, I don't think that my mum could have come to watch.
Most importantly, Mummy and Daddy - my biggest sponsors and supporters, they left today to be here with me during the biggest week of my life to date. I love you guys and thank you for everything. xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Stephen Curl, my wonderful loving supportive partner, thank you for being my rock and thank you for loving Festy as much as I do. It means so much to me. Thank you for following me to the other side of the world to support me xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
And thank you Festy for being the coolest smallest bravest most trusting horse I've ever had. You are a little champ!
On that note, bring on THE WORLD FEI CHAMPIONSHIPS AACHEN 2006 and may Australia win GOLD GOLD GOLD
August 15th 2006
Hi all,
Lots has happened since I last wrote, however none of it involves getting lost. Our team dressage coach, the legendary
Harry Bolt (if you don't know who he is you'd better get googling), arrived on Saturday. As Harry has only seen the Aussie
based horses and riders during our camp in Sydney this was his first chance to have a look at Phillip, Clayton and Lucinda.
Everyone else started their sessions with Harry on Sunday. They announced the team of 6 on Sunday afternoon it included
Yours Truly, Phillip, Shane, Sonja, Andrew and Clayton. Wow - am I looking forward to running at Aachen or what!!
It could have been a very awkward day with 3 missing out (Wendy, Lucinda and Janelle) and there could have been some
tension. But I tell you what, the feeling in this camp is so amazing - we really have captured the true Aussie team spirit.
The 3 girls that missed out will stay in camp and continue to train with Harry and be a part of the team. I think this is
truly unique and if we could bottle the feeling in camp we would all be millionaires!!
I can say through personal experience, from being Wendy's groom at the Worlds in 1994 at Den Haugh and again in 1996 at the
Atlanta Olympics, that I have never felt team spirit quite like this. This is what you work so hard for, for so many years
to be a part of a team.... a real team not just 4 or 6 people put together at the event. Team Management (Wayne, Bear and
Rob) all join in the games of scugby (a mix of rugby and soccer) and the sing alongs around the fire. In fact we're having
another one tonight.
The Canadians moved in on Monday and the 3 Swedish riders move in for a few days at some point. That's fine because Rob
Hanna and some of the grooms arrived a few days early (my groom Karen being one of them). Being first here gave them time
to turn the place into a little bit of Oz and get all the best spots! Flags everywhere, gazebos in the wash area so we
have shelter and they cleaned everything.
The team physio Narell has looked at Jester a couple of times and she said he feels great and the best of all the horses
here. That would be from all of his previous care from Dr James Gardiner, mine and Festy's chiropractor, in addition to the
use of the Equissage and Health Lights. Karen is with the horses every day and does some kind of treatment on Festy. He
has put back on the weight he lost on the flight - not that he lost that much. It was so great to be able to give him the
same feed here as at home. Barastoc and Kentucky Equine Research sent everyone's feed over just after Melbourne CCI. And
Peter Huntington from KER suggested to me at Melbourne that I change Festy's feed a bit. We decided to keep with the
Barastoc Phar Lap and then add the Barastoc Cool Command as well. Also I've been feeding more Equi Jewel now that I'm here
and he is thriving. Festy is feeling the best he ever has and is working so hard for me - he is a real champ.
We have had Harry for 3 days and now we have two days to just jump and hack out - then Harry is back on Friday and
Saturday. I galloped Jester today as well as his lesson and he also jumped yesterday afternoon. I feel so mean riding him
twice a day but there is so much to do! Over the next couple of days he will just hack out so he get a bit of a rest. He's
worked the BEST he ever has in his life these last two days. I was talking to Shane today and he said I just want next
week to be today. He is so right - we have another 7 days until trot up at WEG and that is 7 days to many. I can totally
agree with him 7 more trot ups every morning here in camp two more gallops!! Another jump!!!!!!! I think I'm going to send
myself mad with worry. So I need you all to pray for continued good health for me, Festy and the rest of the Australian mob!!
While you're all at it, can you pray for my knee to get better!! Remember the cool hill we all hiked up? Well the next day
it was just Wendy and I as the other two said it was too hard the day before. We did 3 times up then the next day did 3
again but paid the price the following day, I pulled up a bit lame. I think from having my foot out to the side to get
grip as I pushed up. I've over loaded in inner part of my knee so I've had to have a couple of days rest from the hill. I
am very relieved that I have the Health Lights with me, as I think my knee would be in worse shape if I wasn't able to give
it treatment.
I took a drive to the venue at Aachen today with Rob - man what a place!! Did you know the venue only does one show per
year and they put e46,000,000 into it this year for the WEG. How's that? I think it's pretty cool. I saw a glimpse of the
cross country course and it looked fantastic, the whole track was sanded, drained and sown last year so the turf is
perfect and well established.
I also had lunch with Grit Osterman, I met her at the Atlanta Olympics and she came over to Australia as my groom for a year.
It's so nice to still be in touch, even after all these years. A big thanks also to Louise back home, she is taking good
care of all the horses and doing a great job as always.
Still raining here in Aachen so, if you are coming over, a bit a wet weather gear is needed. When the sun comes out I will
get a few shots of the camp on the website.
Well that's pretty much it from me for today I should go the BBQ has started already and it doesn't take long for
everything a go!!
Auf Wiedersehen from Megan and Festy ;-----)
August 11th 2006
We are a here safe and sound our trip was very long but the horses travelled like little troopers!!
We left SIEC on Tuesday morning at 7am expecting to be at the airport by just before 8am and be loading somewhere near 10ish. Well we were on the tarmac, in the horse pallets, by 10.30 but not in the air until 1.30!!!!!!
oh well not much could be done about it. We made use of the time doing stretching, flexion exercises and some of us sleeping! (how Wendy could fall asleep out on the tarmac at an airport is still a mystery to most). Then we were asked to maybe not sleep or lay out on the tarmac and we should maybe wait up in the plane. We then found more amusement by twirling around on the flooring of the cargo plane. It has little roller things that the pallets moved around on. The game was to see who could get around the most times in one go. Even Bear (our trusty team vet) and Sandy (our trusty team farrier) had a go. Bear was actually quite good at it - there must be something in his past that no one knows about We sent some poor random man, that was working there, on a newspaper and donut run and, to our surprise, he went and came back with Krispy Kremes, (promise we only had one each) papers and also women's magazines. That seemed to settle us for awhile and the poor horses this whole time just ate hay in the pallets and waited but they didn't seem to mind.
Our first surprise once we were loaded and about to go was having a lovely air hostess on the flight to look after us because we numbered ten so a hostie was needed. We had huge seats with lots of room and Simone to look after our needs.
First stop was Hong Kong which took just 2 hours, if that, to load more cargo onto the plane - they are very efficient there. We were off again in no time at all it seemed. Then the next haul to Dubai and, on this leg of the flight, Bear decided that he needed to do some type of exercise to keep that DVT away so Wendy suggested that he do 50 squats!!! Well he did but I think he is still lame 3 days later! Maybe 10 would have been a better start for him.
We all slept well on this leg and the horse were all really happy and they all started drinking. I think Festy was trying to munch his way over the seas - he didn't stop eating. We had some extra horses on the plane with our 5, one endurance horse and Mort Hagard's horse My Hamlet. He's Danish but lives in Victoria and, as not many Danes event to even 3* let alone 4*, Mort has a ticket that his parents have paid for. Good on him I say and good luck. So there were 7 horses on board and 9 spaces ( my heart goes out to Rebel - there should have only been one extra space if Groover was on board). Wendy's horse, Fox, had become quite attached to Festy and he is a worrier when he travels so he got 1.5 spaces and Festy got to share his pallet and had 1.5 as well - bonus!! He could nearly lay down but it gave me heaps of room to get in there with him and give him a massage. I could also get him to walk 3 steps forward and back to keep him from getting stiff.
Once we arrived at Dubai it was looking like being another quick turnaround of just two hours but it got a little delayed. The plane dropped a little with it's extra cargo and the stairs, going up to the door for the crew to get in and out, became a little high for it to close. No problems, just make the stairs go down a little. Well they tried but the little man pushing the buttons - pressed UP not DOWN and the door got wedged, dented and close to being very wrecked! There was a lot of arm waving, yelling and pointing going on. We all just quietly went upstairs and well waited, as we were quite good at waiting by this time.
We were on our way again to the last stop in Amsterdam -YAY. A smooth landing but the Dutch are in no hurry to get our horses off and they unloaded from the back of the plane so the horses were that last to come off. Once they were off we could not go with them as we had to let the ground crew tow them quite away to the quarantine area while we had to take all our baggage to customs. We had a driver who took us to the wrong place first then finally we got stamped and cleared to go and unload the horses.
They were unloaded then put straight into stables and then we waited and waited and waited.. 7 hours it took them to check the paper work, health papers, FEI passports and what ever else you can take 7 hours to do. Then, the poor ponies got on a truck and went 6 hours to our base in Bonn Rodderburg, Germany. So - 46 hours after getting on Shane's truck at SIEC they finally got to have a roll in their beautifully prepared boxes in Germany. And not one horse had a temperature or anything wrong with them at all.
They had the next day out in a field and we rode today. Wendy, Janelle, Sonja and I all hacked out. We had intended to go around the cross country course (there a CIC event held here at our base in September) and have a little walk in the forest. However we got totally and utterly lost in the forest - so many paths and they all looked the same. We thought we had turned around gone the same way back but no - we really should have left a bread crumb trail like they did in Hansel and
Gretel! We could hear the noise of a mower and headed towards it and we ended up finding probably the only golf course in Europe that allows horses on it - it even had a sign with a horse on it. (I think the sign actually meant no horses. It had horse on it and a red circle around it. Now at home if horses were not allowed there would be a line through the horse.) so clearly horse's were allowed.. not! But we had found something other than forest - we had found people - a golfer that lucky for us had very good English and pointed us in the right direction. But we got lost yet again but somehow fluked it to find the clubhouse. We sent Sonja in to get a mud map for us and found out we were a couple of villages away from where we needed to be but this was ok.
We went on our way again and ended up at a T in the tracks instead of a cross road with a grave by it. Oh well, what's a little more being lost? We finally found an indoor arena we had passed coming in we all let out a YAY and trotted home. It was quite lovely really, we blame Sonja because she was in front but I did suggest we went deeper into the forest in the first place. It's quite a strange feeling being that lost - we were out there for
2 hours. We had intended on being at least 1.5 hours anyway so no harm done.
We may just stick to the hills on the property next time however.
We were home by 10.30 am so there is still the rest of the day to fill in, I gathered up a group of Wendy, Janelle, Narelle (team Physio) and myself to go hiking. We walked down and down and down the valley from the stables to the lovely Rhine River then back up and up and up then found some more tracks then a cool forest run up huge hill. 1.5 hours later we get back.
Very nice really. At the hotel we are staying in (1 km from our horses) there is a pool, sauna and a solarium! We may have missed the heat wave,
it's rain every day so far and I need a bit of solarium action!!
Tomorrow we start lessons with Harry and things start to really heat up!!!!!!!
Bye for now
little girl lost and festy
August 7th 2006
So week two in camp we are all still friends and Sonja is still cooking up a storm every night in the mess hall kitchen.
We had our final gallop yesterday (Sunday) and our final vetting before leaving this morning.
Everyone is looking fit enough to take on the world. Festy is changing colour every day he loses more hair but is
forgetting to grow other hair to replace it. So we see more and more of his black skin each day, or it could just be
the amount of licorice he's eating, he has quite a taste for it at the moment. I think he is very confused as to what
season it is and how hot or cold it is. So he is wrapped up in sheep skin to stop every thing rubbing, he has all the
same gear as at home but with this lack of hair he is getting rubs. We are getting our gear picked up this afternoon
to go to the airport so I still have some packing to do, therefore this will be short.
Our flight is at 8am so we leave here at 5.30am to get to airport and get through all the different procedures needed
for travelling on a cargo plane. We have been warned that as we arrive in Amsterdam at 4am we will be waiting at least 5
hours for the vets to see us and then some more time to do all the paper work. Poor horses hopefully they have some nice
comfy boxes for them to sleep in. Then we have a 5 hour drive to Bon Roddemburg where camp is. So all in all we are
going to be feeling like the back of a horse truck by the time we arrive!!!!!!!!!!!
Well I should fly and get everything packed...
See you all on the flip side - wave if you see a plane flying overhead sometime after 8am!
Megan and Festy
p.s. Check out the Gallery for some happy snaps!
August 2nd 2006
Hello everyone from Megan & Jester (Festy)!
It’s been one week since I left home in Wendy’s truck bound for Sydney and training camp, the week has actually gone quite fast. Of course I couldn’t have a truck trip without something going slightly wrong…
First Wendy has a very flash, rather large, truck that has a duel axel (I think it’s what it is called) and it is heavy. Therefore you do need a heavy ridged license to drive it so my medium ridged truck license isn’t so legal once I’m behind the wheel. So I figured, great I get to sleep the whole way to Sydney and Wendy and her mum, Di, can drive. How wrong was I?
Well once they had both had turns it was my turn to drive at 2am! Di assured me it was perfectly ok as long as there was a licensed driver next to me so off I went for the 2am to 6am drive time, loving it! My truck, as cute as it is, it’s a total kidney rattler and by the time you get out of the drivers seat you feel like you’ve been on the end of a jack hammer too long. So Wendy’s truck is pure luxury compared to mine, it has a stereo system, power steering and 10 gears!!
At 6am we stopped to refuel and Wendy was meant to drive again but she was feeling sleepy still so I kept going. Di was chatting to me as we drove straight passed the heavy vehicle checking station……..oops!! I wasn’t about to slam on the breaks on a wet rode with two possible World Championship horses in the back so I just stopped when I could and we sent Di back on foot to see what we could do about the situation. As it turned out we could risk a large fine and just keep driving or drive up the Hume to a turn around point then back to the servos then turn there and come back the checking station. This at least got Wendy out of the bed and back in front of the wheel. Once we got back to the station they checked the log books to find they were all wrong. They decided not to do any fining and we were on our merry way with me banished from any driving or navigating duties.
We got to Wayne Roycroft’s (eventing national coach) place in Mt White 9am Monday morning. I spent the day getting organised and giving Festy Health Light and Equissage treatments, I had a little hack in the afternoon.
The next morning we decided that we would have a jump at Wayne’s before we headed off to SIEC (Sydney International Equestrian Center). I was feeling heat in Festy’s leg and I freaked out totally. I trotted him up…he was fine I even did the ‘circle of death’ (the small trot circle on a lead rope on a hard surface to see if they are sound) and he was fine. So I had to investigate further, I knew he had a boot rub from the day before but that wasn’t the problem. The more I felt the leg the more sensitive it became. So I left him for 30 mins while I had I cup of tea and tried to think clearly. Maybe a stiff drink at this stage would have been better. I decided that I would clip off more hair from the back of his fetlock and give it a good wash with antiseptic, then see if I could find anything. And yes I did find something, a tiny puncture wound and even just moving the hair the wrong way over it was enough to send poor Festy into a panic. So problem found and easy to solve, a poultice and no boot for a couple of days, plenty of Health Light treatments and all was healed. I had to jump with one front boot missing, which freaked me out a little.
So into camp we went on Tuesday afternoon. When we arrived at SIEC Janelle Pitts and Sonja Johnson had already arrived. Sonja had flown her horse over from WA to VIC and got a ride up with Janelle to NSW. Our lessons started on the Wednesday with dressage LEGEND Harry Bolt!! What a buzz to have Harry there to coach us, it was worth the trip just to have the lessons.
Now I was worried that I was going to go insane during camp with just one horse and one bike to ride. But since my groom, Karen, is in the USA and will be meeting me in Europe, I am grooming for myself during camp. Yes, amazingly, I do know how to saddle up and I can muck out… though I do forget to tie Festy up sometimes and he has a little wonder, normally only as far as his feed bin. It’s amazing how much time I can take washing him doing all his Equissage, Health Lights and cleaning gear. Then to pass more time I lead some Pilates sessions with the girls, it is amazing Janelle can now touch her toes!!! Then there’s the grazing of Festy, because they are in boxes we need to take them out every couple of hours to graze and walk. Festy has mastered the art of taking me for a walk and trotting up every hill we come across.
We had to do an event on the weekend and it was the last thing we really needed to do before we fly out as far as risking our horses goes but it was helpful. We rode the CCI****B test, the same as for WEG, and we did the CIC*** cross country and a bigger than CIC*** show jump. I did well at the “mock event” with a 38.2 dressage (leading score), clear cross country and 1 show jumping time fault. So I was pretty happy (well maybe secretly ecstatic, over the moon, excited, chuffed. But on the outside just cool and happy...).
We had a full vetting on the Monday morning complete with flexion tests, the circle of death and blood tests. Phew, Festy was fine… only 78,000 more vettings like this before the whole thing is over. Even if you have the soundest horse with no injuries these vettings are just so nerve wracking because no one wants to find anything wrong with their horse. There’s no sticking your head in the sand here hoping a problem might go away. It’ll get found and either managed or if it’s unable to be managed and you’re sent home. Just like I was at last WEG camp back in 2002 with Irish Hallmark (Paddy) – he hurt his leg during the final gallop.
So I really need to say something about the lessons with Harry. He said to me on the second day, “your horse can do everything. You must ride to the markers…. These flying changes are on the center line. NOT after. Basic riding really.” This is Harry, simple, not trying to change everything we do, just telling us what he wants and letting us use our own understanding of our horses to ride the changes. We have all been told in no uncertain terms to PUT YOUR HANDS DOWN. He will say something, you do it and everything feels better, well I’ve defiantly found that. Festy’s test on Saturday felt so much better, he was so connected. Onto week two now and us girls are getting on really well and all the horses are really happy. I’ll be a pro at this self groom thing by the end of this week and I might even get through this week with out breaking a finger nail!!! Incidentally the eventing team received a lovely gift pack from Dr Lewinn’s Private Formula range – I’m loving it! Especially the hand cream.
Megan :-] and Festy :---)
Ps Rolly, Festy sends his love.