Top 3 Surprise!

Aussie Blog Week 2

What a week it has been! Firstly big celebrations here with Bekham coming home with a 3rd place in the CIC3* class at the Baxter Boots Lynton Horse Trials (Goulburn)! 30 horses in the class, and so cool to ride around the warm-up ring with some of Aussie’s top riders!

This trip has always been about learning first and foremost, so to come home with a top result is such a bonus – very proud of our team. And so the #transtasmanchallenge continues, as of the last blog we are sitting at 2NZ : 3AUS. However; Point 5 – The online entry system: Goodness me I love Vicky and John from www.equestrianentries.co.nz! Our system in NZ is very simple and straightforward to use, with qualifications and registrations assessed behind the scenes – you have very little to actually input! I have found the Aussie system a lot more painful (I swear I have entered my next of kin and sponsors details at least 4 times in the past month). Definitely NZ3 : AUS3 Point 6 – Yarding: Golly these Aussie’s truck parks look a bit like a gypsy set up! In NZ the yarding is managed by our organising committees, with your average yard costing $20 for the weekend, all set up and arranged in neat rows (which leads to neat truck and float parking!). Apparently in AUS the yarding is managed by a separate company, the same metal yards would cost you $60, and the vast majority of people bring their own yards and set them up in no apparent order other than “well that looks like a nice patch of grass over there” – this leads to a higgldy-piggldy mess of horses, trucks, floats and random vehicles which are often getting called out over the loudspeaker for being parked in the wrong place. NZ4 : AUS3.

Point 7 – Horsepower: One of the things I have learnt over here is that the Aussies have some very nice horses! The dressage warm-up area feels like a much more intimidating area with a heap of flash horses that you could see fitting in quite nicely into the stables back in NZ. NZ4 : AUS4. Point 8 – Chocolate is way too expensive. $5 for a block of Cadburys and no Whitakers to be seen in the supermarkets! I have had to resort to Kinder chocolate as it is cheaper to buy in bulk. NZ5 : AUS4

A note on the wildlife point from the first blog - we thought it was pretty interesting when the TD got called out to scare off a snake from under these fences!

The downside of horses is all the things you cant prepare for - and Toby seems to be coping the full force of bad luck this trip! After his sore head from the flight he now has a sore nose with a very unusual boil developing (and eventually bursting) this week! 

The boys are having a quieter week this week, hacking out the past two days after their efforts on the weekend. I am looking forward to catching up with Nicky who is coming over on Sunday to enjoy the trip with me! Cheers, Sam