Quote of the Day

"My wish for you is that you fall in love like a burning coal that falls into water and keeps burning."

Rumi

All Set and Nowhere to Go

4.56am almost ready to head down to the bus stop, I took a second look at my watch and realised it was in fact 3.56am... My alarm was set to go off at 04.15am. What's that about? Its like that crazy reoccurring dream you just can't shake... Why do I always do this?

Time for breakfast and Top Chef to kill time. The bus ought to be here by 05.15. Really hope I manage to sleep on the flight!

So long London once again, Its been short and sweet as usual. Wish me luck in San Remo! I'll keep you posted.

CSI3 Follonica Week 3

Sorry for the late post. Its been a hectic week. Got back to London Monday afternoon and spent the last two days uploading all available videos to youtube. They're up now anyhow so please take a look at my channel: http://www.youtube.com/user/SFinetto?feature=mhum

Merlin was by far my star of the last show: Placed 9th in the 1m50 GP Qualifier Friday, 6th in the GP qualifier Saturday, and 3rd in the 10,000€ mini GP on the Sunday. You just couldn't ask for more! He was in tip top form - As he is slightly anemic and felt a tad under the weather the week before, we gave him a series of 5 blood boosters over 5 days. And they certainly left their mark as you can see in the picture with Alyssa and Annie... back to his old tricks.

Curly was just having one of those weekends where you wish you had never bothered to get out of bed. 1down in the GP Qualifier friday and popped him half way around the 1m30 saturday. All sounds fine so far, but he just didn't feel like his usual perky self. He had endured a slight disruption to his routine in the week and it didn't go down well... to be honest i never thought he'd be so particular :-) Anyways; took a shot at the Grand prix and he decided to drop three fences within the first 5 before he got his act together. In fairness a lot of fences fell in that class, only one clear round and even the 8-faulters made it to the second round. But either way this is very unlike him. He is usually clear or one down, and sticks to those odds, but two or three times a year he just says "thats it... I'm not getting out of bed today"... What can I say... He's the boss, I just go along for the ride.

The girls (Clear and Fairplay) were in good form too. A fifth place for Clear and a clear round for Annie. Both exhausted now.

They arrived back at our place in France around 1am Monday morning and spent the last two days roaming the field. I get back to them Friday morning, just in time to regroup!

keep you posted as always.

Update: The organisers of the Follonica Jumping Tour got me to sign of picture of myself and Merlin to use in the advertisements and promotion of the tour next year. So nice of them!

Quote of the Day

"Cynicism is that blackguard defect of vision which compels us to see the world as it is, instead of as it should be"

Ambrose Bierce

CSI3 FOLLONICA WEEK 2

Another great weekend. Can't get over the form my little ones are in! Taller and tougher this time around.

Fairplay 111 (aka annie or miss annabelle...) jumped her heart out as usual in the 6 year old classes. We had the last fence down day 1, just a slight misunderstanding, but then a beautiful double clear (with a jump off) on the second day. She's really starting to follow through her jumps much smoother now and seems more comfortable at a higher pace. As you can see from the picture she was certainly mighty pleased with herself.

Clear CC had a productive weekend too. Double clear the first day - 7th place - always finds a way to bring home the bacon! 1 down the second day in the final. Really pleased with the way she jumped - looked the best so far on the video.

My magic Merlin delivered as always. After a particularly emotional few days, he sailed through two rounds of the 1m50 GP qualifier on the Saturday afternoon to a wonderfully appreciated 6th place. At times i truly believe he has a sixth sense and knows exactly when i need to rely on him. Its amazing. He's not a happy camper this week though as the rain just won't let up! I've kept him out of the ring entirely and just slalomed along the race course for three days. That and a few patches of grass here and there ought to perk him up...

Last but not least, the infamous Curly Wurly jumped his socks off yet again. Double clear (two rounds) and 9th place in the 1m50 GP qualifier on the Friday. fabulous. Popped him around the first 6 fences of the 1m30 on the Saturday just to settle his nerves a bit. And then a very unfortunate fence down in the GP. The awful weather conditions didn't help. After a long warm up full of disruptions to the class, we were both drenched to the core. On our way to the ring with a rug on his back and towel over his neck like a heavy-weight boxer i could feel him thinking "what on earth are you doing to me". Stepping into the giant puddle formerly know as the Giulia Arena I wanted to turn right around and leave. However, fearing the wrath it might incur I stuck to my guns and we made our way safely to the end. Steady steady the whole way through. So proud of my wee one!

So here goes another week. It has rained non stop since Sunday and so far the organizers have cancelled all classes tomorrow. The only thing to do now is pray for a bit of sun to dry the rings and off we'll go again. It seems we might be allowed to ride two horses in the GP qualifier on friday which would be great. Francis gets here late tomorrow night, thank god... sanity is on its way!

I'll keep you posted. Wish me luck.

News From Abroad

One week gone, two to go in Follonica.

And what an eventful week its been! We left the stables in France Tuesday night and arrived safe and sound at the showgrounds Wednesday morning (aside from a minor mishap at one of the tolls... whoops). Just in time to set up the stables, lorry, get the horses out and complete the vet check.

We've been quite unlucky weather wise - a lot of rain and wind - so everything was cancelled on the Thursday. I couldn't help but think: "not again!!". What is it about me and shows??

Day 1.

The jumping kicked off Friday morning bright and early where Annie and I made our "debut" center stage - a lovely clear round in the 1m20 6 year old class. She was a little weary of everything around her, but i couldn't be happier with the way she jumped - a little firecracker...

Curly was next in the 1m35 - a taster class to get him into the swing of things - once again a clear round, top form and no complaints. I decided not to jump Merlin that afternoon as the ground was getting quite deep and loose as the day went on - we've got a long season ahead after all!

Day 2.

Started the day with Clear CC in the 1m25 7 year old class, and a clear round at that. Great form, she seems so much more settled around the course than last year. Its amazing how a nice long break over the winter just gives them the time they need to process everything they've learned throughout the year. She stayed consistent the whole way round the course, just getting the job the done... no fuss no muss... Merlin was next in the two phase 1m40 class - he jumped a beautiful clear round, magic as ever and fresh as a daisy! By the end of the day the weather was taking its toll on the ground, i Jumped Curly anyways - these big irish types aren't so fussy! we've been through a lot worse - I fence down in the 1m45 speed class, we got a bit stuck in the mud on take off. By 8pm that evening: time for bed!!

Day 3.

There's nothing like 3 horses jumping at the same time in two different rings to jump start your morning! I have to say, Alyssa and Fran handled it perfectly so it all went along without a hitch. Annie was clear again in the 6 year olds - a bit fresher that day, playing around inside the ring and disunited at times but boy did she jump her socks off! Clear CC had the last fence down in the second phase of the 7 year olds - I turned too sharply which just took her by surprise. Merlins Magic was clear and 14th in the 1m40 accumulator, perfect start! Later on Curly was double clear in the 1m45 Grand Prix - 16 went to the second round and we ended up 9th. He was incredible, i just need to put the pedal to the metal next time!

We've had a few days off now. I've made sure to keep the horses out of the ring, working them around the race track everyday. Great fun for them and me! I find they jump much happier at the show this way, no need to drill them constantly in the sand ring (unless there's a specific problem) and to be honest i think they build up much more stamina jogging around that track for an hour! It seems as though quite a few people have left (as a result of the arena) but it really wasn't that bad last week and the organizers have been working on the drainage and putting on new sand for the last three days, so you really couldn't ask for more.

The CSI3 starts tomorrow, I'll only be jumping Annie and Merlin (1m45) the first day. There'll be three FEI rolex ranking classes after that (Friday, Saturday, Sunday) so if I play my cards right I should be able to juggle Merlin and Curly between them). Looking forward to it anyhow (sun is shining now, not a cloud in sight!). I'll keep you posted, wish me luck!!

Follonica Tuscan Tour

After a few days rest we are finally ready to "hit the road". And look at where we're going!! just praying for great weather at this point; seems as if that grey cloud has been after me for a while now... 110km south of Pisa (Italy) on the seafront, Follonica is meant to be a lovely place.

Merlin, Curly, Annie and Sugar were kept busy playing in the field over the weekend - popped over some fences today, it seems we're fit for fight... And we'd better be, just take a look at some of the participating riders (aka the conpetition):

http://www.artec-srl.com/news.asp?c=TUSCAN_JUMPING_TOUR_FOLLONICA_-_ELENCO_CAVALIERI_ISCRITTI&idnews=68&src=

We'll be leaving at midnight tonight, so about 12hours from now we ought to be finding our way through the town to the showground (GPS cant pick up the address... so some form of trial and error I suppose. Perfect!). Not sure what the wifi situation will be over there but here's hoping... I'll try to update my blog as much as possible - three weekends of shows, starts thursday the 3rd, finishes on the 20th. Wish me luck!

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