Our pre Paris training camp was held at Le Pin au Haras in Normandy and it really was amazing. We were there a couple of years ago for the event and the place was a building site and some 2 years and around €23 million later it is simply spectacular. We had several training rings laid out for us, some flat, some jumping and a beautifully decorated main arena to practice the Olympic test in. There was also a superb club house where we had magnificent food and it was a great 6 days with visits from dressage trainer Gareth Hughes and show jump coach Luis Alvarez Cevera.
Wednesday morning saw the horseboxes packed up and ready to leave at 7.30 am for the trip to Versailles. Dan Jocelyn and Sam Lissington shipped home and both Monica Spencer and Artist (Max) and James Avery and MBF Connection (Louis) had the unenviable task of waiting at Le Pin until the eve of the jog before heading down to Jardy in case any of the chosen 4 had to pull out of the competition before the jog.
The arrival of the horseboxes into Versailles was a carefully choreographed affair with countries given specific time slots. We missed our designated 11 am arrival as the Team Price truck pulled into a garage for fuel and the brakes spat out all of the air so that was that trip on hold! Luckily they were in convoy with Caroline Powell and Clarke Johnstone and both Falco and Hiarado (Jools) were travelling on Clarke’s truck so it was just a matter of hitching the Price trailer onto Clarke’s truck and leaving Jonelle and Tim to sort a repair job.
Remarkably they were only 30 mins behind schedule and Jonelle found a ‘happy to help’ mechanic who assured them it was simply a clip on a hose that needed replacing so a fairly simple job. Jonelle arrived around an hour later and that was the team back together again! Tim had dropped the hire car off in Versailles and came back to the stables to find all the horses pretty happy with their lot and nice and relaxed after just a three hour hop from Le Pin.
The stables are nice and roomy and the whole barn is rubber matted which is a major plus. The horses can’t look outside but they have a basic air cooling system that keeps it minus 6 degrees from outside temperature which is very pleasant for them. The arenas are all on ebb and flow systems and are incredible, the entire stable complex has been built on the edge of a hundred year old or more forest so there is plenty of shade and they have even built a gallop in the middle of the forest. The main arena is as spectacular as we expected and with the open view at one end all the way down the Grand Canal to the Palace of Versailles must be one of the most stunning back drops that eventing dressage has ever seen.
Today we were allowed into the main arena for a generous 40 minutes of familiarisation which is a superb way to make the horses feel more relaxed for their tests. Tomorrow the horses jog at 9.30am then we have another arena familiarisation in the afternoon before Saturday is dressage day and the competition begins in earnest. Three years in the waiting and it is finally here!