Australia’s International Three-Day Event

Adelaide CCI 4* and 2*

22.-25. November 2012

Friday

We didn’t go down to watch the dressage because a) it’s kind of boring after a few tests, especially with no really big stars competing and b) we went down to the show grounds later that night for a jumping demonstration that Mark was a part of.

So after the day’s work was mostly done, we loaded Shrek and another horse we were taking for a fellow show-jumper and then followed Mark and the other guy down in Mark’s car. To this day I’m still not quite sure why we didn’t just go in the truck with them, but hey, whatever. The show grounds are practically in the middle of the city, Victoria Park and Rymill Park with a beautiful old grand stand. Unfortunately, there was a construction site across from the grand stand that ruined the view a little, but it’s a very cool place to have a Three Day Event anyway. We were late for the celebrity course walk with William Fox-Pitt, so Debbie and I had a quick look at some of the cross country fences in Victoria Park, before we went back to all the little shops that were being set up that night and spent some time with retail therapy, buying some of the official merchandise of the AI3DE. I got a pink polo shirt and a sports bag, and I will try to remember to post the photos along with this blog. 

Then it was time to get Shreky ready to rock and roll. By that time, we had found out that it was a last man standing kind of jumping class, which led to the question why Mark decided to bring Shrek as he is not the most careful horse, i.e. he tends to have a rail ESPECIALLY when the fences are small and in this kind of class, when you have a rail, you’re out. Coolio or Dennis would have been the better choice, but with Mark, it’s always a little weird like this. Australian warm-up areas for show-jumping are chaotic at best. Remind me to never complain about German warm-ups again. Riders don’t shout “vertical” or “oxer” to let you know that they’re going to jump, so when you’re the groom upping the rails, it happens that people jump with you practically standing there holding one side of the rail which is not very safe. Also, these people do not have a system or a plan for their warm-up. They’re all over the place, walking one minute, then straight out galloping and jumping really high. And some of them are very bad riders. There’s no nice way to put it. Kamikaze style. But courageous, you have to give them that.

The first round was just for warming up, so it didn’t count in the competition which was lucky for Mark as he had a rail at 1.20m. He was pissed, I laughed, because it was exactly as Belinda had predicted. After that, both Mark and Shrek focused a bit more and they survived a couple of rounds. In this class, every round each rider chooses a fence to be put up two holes, and after a couple of rounds, the triple bar was at 1.50m, which some of the riders had never jumped in their life, and in my (maybe arrogant) opinion should never ever attempt to jump in their lives. Anyway, Mark had a rail at a smaller fence before but still finished the course, with Shrek jumping the triple bar beautifully and clear, just to have the teeny-tiny fence after that down, too.  But it was good fun anyway and Mark was thrilled to have jumped the big fence and didn’t whine about having the other fences down too much.

When the horses were taken care of, we went to the catering area and got something to drink, when Belinda grabbed Debbie and me and introduced us to William Fox-Pitt to make up for the missed course walk. Most of you aren’t equestrians, so let me tell you that William is one of the biggest stars in the world of eventing, like David Beckham in soccer and Roger Federer in tennis. He is also one of the tallest and skinniest eventers, so keep that in mind before you judge the fat, short girl with the sheepish smile on her face (me) standing next to him in the photo I HAD to ask him for because how unlikely is it to meet one of the British superstars in Australia of all places (Will post photo later). Also, I have seen William ride in both Athens and at the World Games in Aachen, we go all the way back ;). He was nice enough and we had a little bit of small talk before some other people came along that needed his attention.

It was late by the time we headed back home, so we grabbed some McDonald’s on the way. Back at home, we still had to feed all the horses and put the rugs back on, but that didn’t take too long and the day ended with two very happy grooms falling asleep very early.

Saturday

Saturday was a bit more stressful because we had to get our daily chores done till 11am to be back in Adelaide in time for cross country day which is what it is all about in eventing if you think about it. It was a terribly hot day again, in the 30s but with a bit more wind, at least up in the hills. Unfortunately there was no breeze in Adelaide, and it was freaking hot. I got a brand new sunburn on the edges of where the shirt ends because that’s where you sometimes accidentally don’t apply enough sunscreen. But enough with the whining; I bought an ice cream and everything was good. We got to see about half of the two-star cross while we walked the four star course and took photos of most of the fences. Some of the ditches were HUGE HUGE HUGE but I can’t help thinking this is what I wanna do and I can’t wait to be back with Snoopy next season. I also saw the very first possum; it was dead (dog-attack). But very cute, and I can’t wait to see one that is still alive. We got so sweaty, walking a course is terribly exhausting in this kind of weather and I had a feeling that some of the horses would find it very hard to get through their galloping alright. As it is commonly done in this kind of weather, at the finish of the cross country course there was a tent with fans and water sprinklers to cool the horses down, but they still had around ten minutes of galloping and jumping to do before they reached this little oasis. There were only 18 riders in the four-star, so not even enough time to see one rider at each fence as you usual try to do as a spectator. Debbie and I opted to watch the first rounds on the big screen in the arena, enjoying the shade of the grand stand. About halfway through, we ran over to the water fence and got to see some other fences jumped while we were on our way. A skinny element in the water proved to be the big question of the day and only two riders made it round the course without a run-out or a refusal, with ten combinations being eliminated. Some of the horses were breathing so heavily and jumped on their last drop of energy, I sometimes questioned why the officials didn’t pull them up or why the riders didn’t have enough sense to retire their horses when they felt that they were too tired to go on. A couple of not so nice situations, but thank god none of the horses got injured. While walking the course, we also got the chance to see Olympic Gold medalist (Beijing) Megan Jones and Kirby Park Irish Jester, who was retired on the Sunday. Got photos of this lovely grey and Megan signed my program, which is going to be framed when I get back home.

On our way back to Flaxley, we got lost in Adelaide, which happened to us before. We ended up in the hills closest to the city where all the big, fancy houses are (think Hollywood Hills). We had to drive on forever before we got a chance to turn around and head back, but at least we got a spectacular view of the city and all the way to the ocean.

Sunday

On Sunday, it was the same as the day before: start early, get done early so we can be in Adelaide before the show-jumping starts. Another one of those brutally hot days that I just cannot get used to, but at least I got no new sunburn. We didn’t get to see the two-star jumping, but that was alright with me. I went through the shops and found a nice cotton combo rug that I bought for Snoopy; now I only have to find a light rain combo. We watched the prize giving and lap of honor of the CCI** which was also the Australian Young Rider Championship. After that, Belinda gave us last-minute tickets for the grand stand and I was so glad not because of the better view, but just because that meant being able to sit in the shade for half an hour. Only half an hour, because out of the 18 starters, only seven made it to the show-jumping. I have ever heard of any of them and I hope you won’t ever, because that was some of the worst jumping I have seen in my life. Yes, the horses were tired after the grueling cross, but some of these riders were just horrendous and lacked some serious skill. I kept wondering what they do with their free time, because they certainly don’t use it to prepare for the jumping. The last three riders were the only one that rode well, but even so, none made it round without a rail down. The fact that William was sitting next to me in the grand stand made up for the bad riding in the arena a little, but I still shake my head when I think back. Between the jumping and the prize giving, Irish Jester was officially retired from international eventing, having never completely recovered from whatever went wrong on the flight from Sydney to L.A. on the way to the World Games in Kentucky. But he’s still fit enough to canter around and do some of the four-star fences, and I think it was a good choice to take him out of the sport sound and happy. The ceremony got very emotional and I only just managed not to cry, because the horse had been with the family since he was born and everybody was sad to see Megan say good-bye to him and their career. After that, and way more cheerful, followed the prize giving for the four-star, and only one poor rider didn’t get placed.