Shout out to Bastian and Equijet for their kindness and generosity. I am so lucky they swooped in and saved the year by offering to fly Woody and I to England so we could compete at Badminton. I am eternally grateful❤?
Well we left the Horse Hotel Holland around 2:00 p.m. The two horse van didn’t have enough room for all my equipment plus Tigger’s stuff. So I repacked one trunk with my tack, grain and necessities and away we went. We were headed to Calais for the ferry to Dover. Riccardo the driver was excellent company and, even better, he had a stash of British candy. Fruit pastels, Cadbury eclairs, nothing but the best!
When we stopped for a snack at the gas station I went in to use the washroom and it requires .50€ There’s literally a ticket stub machine where you put your money in and it gives you a ticket. Plus a turnstile across the entrance like at the train station. You can use the voucher towards a purchase in the store so that’s good I guess.
The hot walker at Mark Todd’s.
We made the ferry around 7:30 p.m. and it pushed off around 8:00 p.m. We had a quick dinner and a short nap before arriving in Dover. We needed to wait quite a while for Tigger’s papers to clear customs so we arrived quite late at the layover in Dover where Tigger would be staying. I unloaded the horses into ready made stalls so they could have a drink and relax a bit. Then I walked Woody around the parking lot a bit to stretch his legs before loading him back on to head to Mark’s yard. We arrived quite early in the morning and accidentally woke up Mark (his dogs heard us). He was so nice and came out to welcome me and show me where Woody’s great big stall is.
I got to stay in his amazing lorry after I fed Woody and got him settled in. I felt like a rock star in that palace, plus it was toasty warm and comfy. Woody slept most of the morning as well, poor guy. However when I took him out to hand graze him he was perky and alert in between power munching the lush green grass. I am SO EXCITED to be here, especially when I saw the lovely outdoor arena has mirrors all across one end. I find that SO HELPFUL with lateral work on Woody especially because he is quite narrow. There’s a really fancy hot walker as well as cross country schooling out back including a great water jump. Sadly it’s been raining non-stop here so everything on the grass is pretty soggy, but I know there’s a fabulous all weather gallop up a long hill here too. We had the privilege using it when the team was in England prepping for WEG 2014. I can’t wait to run up it again on the Woodster.
Now I’m settled in at Jess and Ella’s house nearby where I will be staying during my stay. Jess was a working student for my mum when she ran a barn in England (before we moved to Canada). A few years ago her daughter Ella came to be a working student for us in Canada. Such a small world and I’m so lucky to live with them while I’m here. Thank you so much ?
