Safely at Melbourne after a few dramas! Photo: Geoff McLean
Whoever said that life was going to quieten down after changing jobs was mistaken.
In the lead up to Melbourne we had far too much excitement when you are trying to prepare for a three day. It began the week before Melbourne with numerous trips in the truck for galloping and squad schools. Both Alex (Townsend) and I applied for the NSW squads aimed at up and coming prenovice and 1 star horse and rider combinations with the potential to filter into the national squads towards Rio in 2016.
Capone and Ginge (Halycon Days) worked well in the lessons although Ginge was only able to do the dressage as the day before she had cut up her front legs in the paddock at home. Pie (Parodie) tagged along for a gallop session and ended up having a jump instead.
While we were busy at SIEC, one of Al’s Labradors Sammy decided there was an adventure to be had and wondered off into the bush behind the indoor. He frequently went wandering for a couple of hours but when he hadn’t returned by that night everyone was starting to worry.
The following morning there was still no sign of him and Derek, Alex’s husband, was out scouring through the bush and calling for Sammy to no avail. We continued on with our week, more galloping and lessons before trooping off to SIEC for a dressage day on Saturday and Jump Club at Clarendon on Sunday. All the horses were training well and we were looking forward to the trip down to Melbourne.
Capone and I at Hunt Club
On the Monday afternoon we received a phone call wanting to know if we were missing a dog. The people at the bottom of the escarpment had heard a dog barking for the past couple of nights. So out went Al and Derek with a high vis shirt and they stood at the top of the escarpment whilst on the phone to the neighbours as they guided them to where the barking was coming from. Once they figured out a rough location they called the State Emergency Service who were only too willing to come and assist in Sammy’s rescue.
First thing on Tuesday morning they turned up in droves, around half a dozen cars and at least a dozen men equipped with abseiling attire. They were able to clambour down the side of the escarpment to a small ledge; about 5m by 2m where Sammy had come to rest after slipping and sliding down a 10 meter drop. He was lucky that he hit the ledge and stayed there as there was an 80 meter drop to the bottom on the other side!
Sammy and his rescuers (above) and VERY glad to be back home in his own bed (below)
Sammy was very happy to see people after spending the past 6 days under the stars on his ledge and was only too eager to be hoisted back up onto steady ground. Everyone was very excited to see him safe and sound and none the worse for wear except a little hungry. The local news team had even turned up after hearing about a rescue going on. I’m sure they were surprised when the discovered it was for a puppy!
Meanwhile, I had been busily packing the truck and doing last minute gallop work so that we could leave for Melbourne in the afternoon. It was nice to know that we were leaving with all 4 legged friends accounted for. Once we were on the road it was my job to troll the internet looking for a GPS tracking device so that we couldn’t lose him again!
We thought surely that would be the end of our dramas....unfortunately we were wrong. 2 hours from Werribee Park we heard an odd noise. Al pulled over on the side of the freeway only to discover that we had shredded an inside tyre. Not the news we wanted. Back up came Google and we found a local mechanic to bring us out a new tyre. We were both fascinated at how they removed the old tyre and then using an air gun (at this point we both took a few steps back) to fill the new tyre with air effectively sealing it to the rim. We were back on the road in a couple of hours and arrived to a dismal day in Werribee, what a surprise!
The 3 horses had travelled well and both Ginge and Capone did super dressage tests to by lying in the top 15 in the one star field that boasted 75 competitors. Pie was also behaving herself but just as Al got on the heavens decided to open up and so she received a lovely drenching. Pie kept it together in her test though and she was just outside the top 10 at the end of the day.
I had walked the one star course a few times and I was happy enough with how it walked. Alex was 2nd out on Ginge and apart from being a little spooky at times she jumped around clear with only 2.8 time penalties. I was really happy with how Capone warmed up. He was nice and relaxed and we headed out of the start box full of jumping. So much so that he was clearing everything by 3 feet!
He jumped through the first water so big I thought I was going to come off when he finally landed but he kept going and picked up the boat coming out. We were up on time when we came to the 2nd water but unfortunately our competition was going to end there. Coming out of the water there was a skinny arrowhead and he just didn’t understand that he had to jump it and so we walked home. But it’s hard to stay mad at him as he’s so cute and he had jumped so well up until then.
Through the first water at Melbourne Photo: Fast Track Photography
Pie and Alex didn’t go much better. After a couple of run outs, Alex decided that it wasn’t their day and opted to walk home. And so it was time to head back to the truck for a couple of G and T’s and to commiserate about our day. Ginge was still fighting fit and trotted up the next morning followed with a lovely clear round to finish in 9th place!
Will had the honour of flying down to drive home with me and the horses while Alex flew home as she had to pack for her trip to England. She flew out on the Thursday while everyone else had a couple of weeks resting in paradise. But we are back in action now and getting ready for Sydney eventing in a couple of weeks!
The team at Melbourne looking very smart in their Bucas rugs!
