We've Arrived!!!

What a difference a few days makes!!! Ginny and I had a great training camp at Mrs Mars farm in Ocala Florida. We ended the camp with a great xc school and gallop up the hill. After focssing on the dressage for the days before, this was a very "fun" day for both Ginny and I. Needless to say, my little mare is fit and ready to gallop on the Kentucky grass.

We had a really fun last "team" dinner where we tried out our red lipstick that will be worn at jog!! (Check out Eventing Nation) There were a few motivational talks from coach Canada and I think that we are all ready and we all "believe" . I would also like to say a HUGE THANK YOU TO: FITS RIDING, OMEGA ALPHA, EQUISSAGE, MERIAL, ECOGOLD, HORES WEAR AND EQUINE CANADA!!!! It was a bit like Christmas when the UPS truck showed up with our team stuff!!! It was a really fun last night, until the alarm clock went off at 130am....time to head to WEG!!!!

Ginny got to travel with Columbo to Kentucky. It was an uneventful 12 hr trip. All the horse travelled great and settled into their "home" for the the next 10 days. Thanks so much to Graeme and Deb for getting the stalls ready... Ginny is basically sleeping on a pillow of shavings!! I got goose bumps when I looked out of my tackroom and saw the British Team arrive.... It is still a bit sureal to me that I am competing at WEG with the best riders in the world. The best part is when I was grazing Ginny, William Fox Pitt came up to me and said hello and asked me how my mare was doing!!!!! He knew who I was!!!! We had a great "chat". The New Zealand team is stabled just down from us and Natalia went quiet....Mark Todd walked by and said hello! It is so wierd to be hanging out with the people that I have looked up to for years.

We had our first ride today and Ginny was great!!! I only rode her once today and gave her the rest of the afternoon off. She had a good sleep all cuddled up in her shavings. Hopefully she is dreaming of a dressage test in the low 40's, clean fast xc, and a beautiful clean sj round!!

The opening ceremonies are this evening. I wll be marching in with the best riders in the world. I am so thankful to be here with one of the best horses in the world. If you told me 4 years ago that I would be at the Worlds, I probably would have laughed. I am not laughing now... I am part of a very competive team that has just as much ability as everyone here. This proves to me that if you work hard enough and make some big sacrifices anything is possible. Best of luck to all the competitors.

 xoxo HAWLEY AND GINNY