Royal International Show 2008!!

Arriving at the Royal International and setting up 'Camp Julie Templeton' the children were most definately ready for a party. However early beds for everyone in preparation for Show Hunter Pony day.

Wednesday dawned and Emma Jackson riding our own Thimbley Final Edition entered the ring for the 143cms Show Hunter Pony. With Lisa standing at the side of the ring wearing her lucky birthday socks and her new 'lucky' birthday t-shirt, all fingers were crossed. Henry and Em did a lovely go round and a great gallop. With no pull, the pressure was on as Em was near the end of the line to do her show and as the class went on it was obvious that she had to pull something a little bit special out of the bag as nearly all before had gone well. With half the team not daring to watch her show and the other half riding every stride  - Emma and Henry did an amazing show. A long wait and the result came in - Thimbley Final Edition and Emma Jackson - 143cms Show Hunter Pony Champions. Team hug, bit of crying (well actually lots of crying!!) Photographer tried to take lots of pictures, however a tearful Emma tried to put on her best crying smile!

Celebrations did not last for long as Rebecca Anderson and Parkhill Beckham and Cerys Wyn Jones and Pennymore Quillet entered the ring for the 133cms Show Hunter Pony Section. This was Cerys and Arthurs first time ever at the International, they executed a beautiful show but one blip cost them dearly, however it was a great learning curve for this new and exciting combination. Rebecca did a lovely go round and a great show. With reverse order counting down the placings it was tense to say the least. 2nd !! a brillant result for this consistent pair who have come such a long way. Securing Rebeccas opportunity to ride in the main ring in the afternoons Championship - the team went back to camp happy with the mornings results.

Afternoon - off to the River Lawn, where Poppy Duncalf partnered Annandale Darcy owned by Steph and Jenny Leech in the 122cms Show Hunter Pony section. Poppy did a lovely show and finished a credible 6th.

Everyone headed off to the main arena to see two of our ponies contest the RIHS Show Hunter Pony Championship - both of the girls loved the main arena - so did the ponies !! By this time a massive team crowd had gathered to support them and a massive massive cheer went up when Emma Jackson and Thimbley Final Edition took Reserve Show Hunter Pony.

A big well done to Becky Edwards and Hindleap Choir Boy - Show Hunter Pony Champions x

Our show hunter pony day was not to end there - leaving the main arena the team went back to River Lawn for 2 hours of Show Hunter Pony Lead Rein in the blistering heat. Tristan riding Annandale Darcy brought home a fantastic result - 2nd!! Tristan was every inch the showman and we were delighted with this result.

One of first challenges of the show, was to Michael Coates - Fiona challenged him to find a funnel at the side of the ring, to pour BodyShine into the bottle. With only 5 minutes passing, Michael arrived back with not one funnel but several in different sizes. The gauntlet had now been set down for everyone else to attain to!

Arriving back at camp, the children decided that the only remedy for the intense heat was a massive water fight. Adults took cover and the kids had a ball. It was unfortunate that Duncan then left his wet clothes in a pile and found them on Sunday - NICE!!

However Wednesday was the ladies birthdays celebrations, with Lisa turning 41 and Gill having a belated 40th celebration, we turned the camp into Little Italy. (Gillian got a trip to Venice for her birthday). The kids and the two Sallys were responsible for decorating the camp and did a very good job!!

With lasagne and garlic bread all round accompanied by copious amounts of Champagne to toast the birthday girls and todays results, we then started the evenings entertainment - PLANE RACES!!!!