Day 2 of competition and rest day

Sorry for the down time, i have been seriously missing my trusty xperia mini phone and I am afraid the iphone6 is not as good for on the fly blogging!!

Anyway day 2 of competition started with a misty warm up

It is quite cold here like autumn in the UK, only warmer as the sun comes out (picture from Monet Smith Photography who have been taking some excellent shots!)

Individual sword was up first and i had a point to prove after a seriously iffy day 1 performance. I managed to finish 5th overall, but as usual when the pressure was on i accidently reached on a peg and missed.

Oranges were up next and again a shocking performance from me let the points score down, but fortunately the others did well for some high individual places and scores on the door for GB.

I have to mention at this point i was feeling fairly sick as i have been fighting an indonesian gastro bug since being here.... One day the team will be sponsored by immodium!! 

So just indian file to run where i bucked up my ideas and GB just missed out on silver by 2 points to Iraq which was rather gutting, but we are in the medals!

Evening was rewarding by a steak followed by a rather long bar session which is onsite, and explains the lack of blog!! 

Never ever get in drinking competitions with South Africans as they will beat you with experience. On the plus side we got lots of tips from the SA coach before the shots started, unfortunately the springbok shooters taste good so slip down easily (creme de menthe topped with amarula cream).

Fortunately as i was still under the weather i did not really partake so was a lot perkier than other team members emerging on the rest day!

So today we went to the lion park and saw lots of animals including the lions, tigers, chimps and caracals. 

  

The rest of the day was spent at the waterfront in cape town, which is stunning in the backdrop to table mountain

 

Tonight we analyzed videos of the teams performance and plan to use what we have learned from this in the final two team events, which are tomorrow

Better sign off at 0630 start tomorrow!

South Africa 2015 Day 1 of Competition

Guest blogger Tina as I'm in the shower!

so today was the first day of competition however the walls between our rooms are so thin that we (Jenna and I) are next too the lads and lets say they are not quiet in the bathroom!!!!!! which means not a peaceful start to the morning being woken up at 6.30am for breakfast and it's still dark. We had a Zulu tribal war dance at the official opening ceremony to get us in the mood for pegging.  the morning went well with all riders getting good scores.  another huge lunch then back for the pairs where team GB came third gaining a bronze medal.  I presented the medals which was fun only having the use of one fully functional arm.  we then went the scenic route to the shopping mail but somehow ended up in a coal depot!!!!  at the mail everyone had a quick shop and or coffee and cake they don't do portion control.  As I type this Jenna is trying to clear the flood of water from our shower room with her feet, if we need to use the facilities we may have to swim.

South Africa practice day

Quick update: I am here in Cape Town, South Africa for a World Cup Qualifier with manager Tina Ricketts-Smith, and riders Adrian Deane, Michael Smith and Peter Turland.

We started with a lovely breakfast at Le Bac and headed to the Mistico Equestrian Centre for a morning briefing.

Tina and Dalene headed to the airport to collect our 5th rider Bradley, who had been delayed due to BA being sticklers for paperwork.

In the mean time the brits checked out the track, whilst the South Africans did a team huddle (and then got distracted by our antics....)

The missing riders arrived and horse draw followed and because its winter here we had lots of cute hairy South African ponies lined up for the draw

Practice followed and i don't have any pictures! It was well organised and we dis 7 runs in total including rings and oranges, which was great way to warm up.

I started on a cute pony, but was swapped to Protem a bay pony. I have to say most ponies here are well behaved.... Well except for one who hadn't been ridden for some time and bucked in warm up, but fortunately Marni from South Africa was on that one!

Tonight was back to Mistico for a super dinner, but went to candle light due to a scheduled power outage

So you guys will have to make do with an african sunset as phones don't pick up much in the dark!