My Equine Visit
Well I am back from my little getaway and I am now ready to sit down and write the two new blog posts that I promised all of you. The first one, of course, will be about the horse related event during my trip. I'm sure many of you were wondering where I went, well now you're about to know. Are you ready? Here's a little hint, I went somewhere in western Canada.
I went to... Calgary! Which is not too far of a drive from Spruce Meadows!
Picture taken by me
We were lucky enough to have a beautiful sunny day to watch many great athletes compete against each other for the Pan American Cup on July 14, 2013.
Thirty-three competitors put their partnership to the test by going through a course with a height of 1.60 metres. In the end, only five went clear which lead to a jump off.
Some of the athletes competing were the Americans Reed Kessler on Cylana, McLain Ward on Zander, Kent Farrington on Uceko, Beezie Madden on Simon and Leslie Howard on Tic Tac. Some of the Canadians were Eric Lamaze on Power Play, Ian Millar on Dixson and Jonathan Asselin on Showgirl.
Reed Kessler and Cylana
Picture taken by me
Eric Lamaze and Power Play
Picture taken by me
Ian Millar and Dixson
Picture taken by me
In the end, the American Brianne Goutal on Onira, the Canadian Tiffany Foster on Verdi III, the Colombian Daniel Bluman on Sancha Ls La Silla and the Irishmen Conor Swail on Lansdowne and Cameron Hanley on Antello were the five that made it to the jump off. During the jump off everyone was on the edge of their seats hoping their favourite rider will go clear. Unfortunately, no one did so the first place went to the pair that went to fastest time with one rail down. That lucky pair was Conor Swail and Lansdowne!
Conor Swail and Lansdowne during the Jump off
Picture taken by me
All in all, it was an amazing day filled with a good group of competitors on two difficult courses. I truly felt like a little girl in Disneyland as I have always wanted to visit Spruce Meadows. It was great to visit some of the horses in their stalls, to spend a little bit too much at their tack shop and to sit in the sun watching the riders you see on television compete right in front of me.
If you ever get the chance to visit Spruce Meadows, I recommend that you do. Make a day out of it, pack a lunch or buy it there and enjoy the competitions and the horses. My friends and I were surprised to learn that it didn't cost us a thing to enter and watch the competition. The competitions that do have an entrance fee are only five dollars. We couldn't believe it since we were going to watch some of the best in the sport.
Overall, it was a wonderful day filled with wonderful memories. Here are a few other little pictures I took during my visit. I apologize for the quality of the jumping pictures as they are not the best. I am trying to save up of a telephoto lens to get a closer and more clear image without having to edit it too much.
Picture taken by me
Clock Tower
Picture taken by me
Horseshoe Globe
Picture taken by me
Picture taken by me
That is it until the next post which will be up very shortly. Though this was not the usual type of blog post that Pure Horse Sense is used to, I thought it would be nice to be a bit more personal and blog about my Spruce Meadows visit with all of you. With all that said, I'll leave you with one last picture; the first thing you see when you arrive and the last thing you see when you leave.
Until next time, happy riding!
Picture taken by me