LAX-->AMS--> Maizey Manor

From Sarah:

LAX-->AMS--> Maizey Manor 

After two weeks of packing and repacking several times, it was finally time to head across the pond. We had to make a quick stop down the street from KingsWay before departing for LAX with Ginny. We went to pick  up "Quinberry", ridden by Bill Norwood, who will be representing Australia in Reining at the World Equestrian Games. Once all the equipment was loaded, we headed to LAX to drop off the horses at JetPets for the night, before flying to Amsterdam Thursday afternoon.  

We arrived at Jet Pets late Thursday morning to board Ginny & Quinberry onto the pallet, and then we were off to the airport. Once boarded, and 10 hours later, we made it to Amsterdam! Bill and I walked to the KLM cargo port, and waited patiently for the vets to arrive before we could take the horses off the pallets. Once the vet check was complete I was able to put Ginny in a stall to rest until Jessica Phoenix and her groom Sandra Andresen, and Selena O'Hanlon's groom Anne-Marie Duarte and their horses arrived. Finally, after just over 6 hours of waiting, we loaded all the equipment and horses onto the lorry and we were off to England!

We arrived around at Maizey Manor somewhere around 1AM, where team training camp will be held for the next week before heading to Normandy. We unloaded the horses and equipment, tucked in the ponies for the night and were finally off to bed after a long 2 days of travel. 

Our alarms came way too quickly the next morning! With just a few hours of sleep and a little jet lag, we got up and took care of the ponies who all looked great and happy to be here. Once we met our riders at the barn and everything was cleaned and organized we headed into the little town of Barborough for an English breakfast. 

While the horses were turned out in the luscious green grass fields for a few hours (which they very much enjoyed) the team discussed a few things for the coming week and our team gear was handed out. 

Hawley, Selena, and Jessie set out on finding jog outfits, while a few of us had a cup of tea and an afternoon nap... 

It's beautiful here in England, and the horses all look great, lessons and gallops are planned for the week, and some team activities as well!

Part of Team Canada in Amsterdam

Ginny on the lorry headed to England

We have arrived!

Rebecca Farms and the Road to the WEG

From Sarah:

As the countdown to the World Equestrian Games began, Gin & Juice spent some time at her Auntie Robyn Fisher's while Hawley coached Area VI at Young Riders. Since Hawley had to head straight from Kentucky to Rebecca Farms in Montana, Chloe and I packed up the trailer and made a quick pitstop in L.A. to pick up Ginny and meet up with Robyn's crew. By midnight we were on the road with three trailers and ten horses. 24 hours and a layover in Salt Lake City later, we arrived at the prestigious Event at Rebecca Farms. Our precious cargo arrived happy and healthy. Hawley's first ride of the weekend, High Duty, ran the N3D and put in a beautiful dressage test to put them in the lead, which they held onto throughout the weekend to take home the blue!

Rebecca served as Ginny's last prep run before a little show in France A.K.A. The World Equestrian Games. To prepare for dressage day we tried a technique recommended by Uncle Buck- of lunging, which seemed to have paid off, as Hawley and Ginny led the CIC3* division after dressage! Since this was Ginny's first cross-country run since Rolex, Hawley's focus was to make Ginny rideable and get her 'feet wet.’ Their run put them into third going into show jumping after incurring a few time faults. The show jumping arena was packed with spectators and Ginny entered the arena fired up on Sunday. She unfortunately took down a handful of rails but still ended the weekend with an exciting fourth place finish!

We packed up, loaded the horses, and began the long haul home on Sunday afternoon, driving through the night before stopping at our halfway point. We finally arrived home at 1:30 AM on Tuesday from what was simultaneously an exhilarating and exhausting trip to Rebecca Farms!

After a few days of recuperation time for the horses and ourselves, we headed to a local jumper show the following weekend for some practice and fine-tuning. Now, with less than a week left before we head across the pond, the Juicer and a few of her friends went up to L.A. for some "round and fluffy" dressage lessons with Robyn Fisher. Only days away from takeoff and with less than three weeks until the start of competition in Normandy, it's time for the final countdown to begin.... Gulp!