Had a plan for Saturday and the steady rain that fell all Friday night wasn't going to put us off.
And it didn't because it had stopped by dawn so onto the car we got and drove to Blenheim Palace for the Fidelity International Horse Trials cross country day. About 90 competitors had done dressage the day before and showjumping was on Sunday.
Followed a bit of the horse stuff in NZ so a good day out looked in order..
Passed this dude looking a bit concerned trying to arouse these two...
Common get up your round starts in an hour...
Then out to the course where we spied a top kiwi fella...
Sir Mark Todd stepping it out counting horse strides between the jumps...
The competition got under way and we were surprised how large the fences were in height and width after watching similar on TV..
Solid timber with no give......
Moved on to the section where they jump into the lake, tricky as, and saw some near crashes with varying styles to match..
The Wait for me style....
This riders name was Michael Jackson so he had to...
Show the Glove.....
The Lazy Boy chair style....
And Rearing to go style...
Then Mark Todd popped over, no drama, to show his style..
Another Kiwi Champion competing was Andrew Nicholson....
Exiting the lake by jumping up over the Dragons....
A competitor gallops across the other side of the lake on the way out...
The grounds at Blenheim Palace are immaculate but that's another story...
Looking at the stone bridge from were you could view 4-5 jumps..
You don't see many of these going around...
An Appaloosa... the North American Indians went to war on them...
Over the last jump after 3.5 odd miles.. if you've cleared this ....
You can't call your round Rubbish...
In the trade section there was a zillion stalls selling everything horsey plus everything horse people, the other half, may want...
Like a leather buttoned couch Dogs Bed for the favourite Pooch..
And you havn't seen dogs on leads ,not even on the tow path, in quantity until you've been to one of these...
I don't care how sad the eyes are your not sharing my lunch...
A "Rope Head" or "dread locked" mutt....
You wouldn't bring a 3 wheeled bike on the muddy hills ....
The scene was set for a....
But not possible when....
Horses and riders jump through your bush all day......
Tomorrow , North......
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