All The Pretty Horses, Dust, Poo and . . .That's How We Roll

Well we finally got the right weekend and wouldn't you know? I had to choose between Yum Cha with The Benchwarmer, meeting the soon-to-be-sort-of-In-Laws or the showjumping that we missed last weekend because I bungled the dates.

Since this was the International Three Day Event, it sounded swanky. Glasses of Verve Cliquot, horses, tents and merchandise, sounded too good to be true to me and a rather worse for wear Clarebear headed out on a very hot 30 degree but breezy day to the International Equestrian Centre built purposefully for the 2000 Olympics.

First impression? And I had been there during the Olympics when there were crowds a-plenty, was that it was awfully quiet. It's a huge expanse with world class facilities but not many cars and a charming man who divested us of $15 per head for the privilege.

So a small but horsey crowd and a row of little tents selling everything from crystal horses on chains to $3,400 saddles, homeopathic cures for your tired equine and a grassy verge, were really all that greeted us. We bought water and an ice cream, an egg and lettuce sandwich and waited . ..and waited . . and waited. Too many speeches, too much 'walking the course'.

Being the last day of a three day event which involves cross-country on one day, dressage on another and today the showjumping event, all on the same mount, so these guys are pretty tired by day 3. The horses . . not the riders.

What's great about this particular equestrian sport is that all events must be completed on the same horse. Specific horses have a talent for hacking, others for jumping and dressage is usually the province of overweight warm bloods who have a knack for learning the more difficult 'dancing' movements of horsemanship. So to have a horse that has all three talents is the equivalent of a Triathlete . . he has to be svelte, athletic, look good, have brains, stamina and an incredible amount of trust in his rider.

Clare who spent three months training show jumpers in Spain and pampering spoiled pony poo's in Surrey assures me that compared to European events this was less than salubrious. No hats, no chardy, no formal wear . . but hey that's how we roll. The Aussie team are the nine times Olympic three-day event champions so suck that you poncy Europeans! With your wanky warmbloods and indoor arenas. Treat 'em rough and play it tough.

So, it was disappointing in terms of crowds, sadly lacking in Grand Prix pretention and audience quantity but amazing in terms of talent and I tell you, these guys were so big, it would have taken two milk crates for me to swing the leg over!

This is how you make a horse look happy for a photograph, wave your hat and shout 'boo boo'

Much adjudicating over height and safety

Hot and dusty so the course is dampened by sprinklers
I don't know about the horses but we were grateful for the spray

One of the junior's

Slightly more serious

I do like a man with a long pole


Not the winner but beautiful


We liked him because we own two greys

I have come home smelling of dust and sunshine and horses . . .love it! And can I say, that some of these shots look over exposed but it was a 'white' hot day and they are exactly representative of the way it was.

And this was our winner . .not pretty but a true Triathlete