Windsor

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May 12, 2010

today, they toured the Windsor Mews

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Jill’s report for today:

All of the CAA group managed to arrive safely yesterday, and we enjoyed a walkabout from Eton to Windsor and then all stopped to enjoy an afternoon tea (tea of choice and two scones each with clotted cream and strawberry jam – yum!!). Then many enjoyed an early evening after their long flights.

This morning (Wednesday), we all enjoyed a breakfast in the hotel and then walked up the hill in Windsor to watch the changing of the guards just before 11 a.m. The guards are accompanied by a military band, and the cars are all stopped as the troops walk up the main road from the barracks to Windsor Castle.

the band and guards as they walk up through Windsor town from the barracks to Windsor Castle for the changing of the guard (photo by Jill Ryder)

Then the CAA group assembled outside the Windsor Castle Mews to await Terry Pendry, Stud Groom, who had agreed to show us around the Royal Mews (not open to the public). As you will probably have heard, the British government just elected a new Prime Minister and so the Queen was in London to accept Gordon Brown’s resignation and then welcome David Cameron as the new Prime Minister. All this had an effect on Terry and what he was to do that day (as she would normally be at Windsor to enjoy the show and often ride in the morning).

We were admitted by the castle police and stood patiently to be welcomed by Terry. He arrived and spent the next one-and-a-half hours showing us the carriages and cars in the Mews, the many horses of the King’s Troop (who are temporarily housed in the Mews as they are to perform at the show), the harness, the farrier’s shop, and the Queen’s horses and ponies. Of course, the Mews itself is an interesting study with its stables, riding school, grooms quarters, and offices. Members of our group were really interested in everything they were shown, and we were sorry when we had to leave!

Terry Pendry describing the Royal Mews riding school building and its use and pointing out the King's Troop's guns (photo by Jill Ryder)

The morning weather was nice: the sun had come out and all the while we were in the Mews, the sun continued. Just after we left and stopped to watch more King’s Troop horses arrive from London by horse van (and be unloaded out on the street and walked into the Mews), it began to shower!

The forecast is for it to get better each day – hope so.

the Long Walk, taken from just in front of Windsor Castle (photo by Jill Ryder)

Tonight we are going to enjoy a group dinner in our hotel, and we will welcome guests George and Eileen Bowman, Tommy and Barbara Fawcett, Geoff and Anne Woods, Tony and Jan Sellers, and Marie Wood, all from England, plus Jack Pemberton from Canada.

May 10, 2010

volcanic ash won’t stand in their way (we hope)

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Here is Jill’s first report from England, which she sent on her Monday afternoon and which arrived in my U.S. email inbox on Monday morning:

“I arrived on Friday in England, with only an hour’s delay because of the volcanic ash. I landed at Heathrow and then took a train to Dorset to visit my brother, John, and his family for the weekend. They have recently finished building a new house and I was pleased to see it. Great location and a wonderful house! Then on Sunday, I took the train back towards Windsor and settled in to our home for the week, The Christopher Hotel in Eton. We always receive a warm welcome in this small, old hotel, formally a coaching inn. Several people were due to arrive today, one day early. I have only seen two people of the five due and both of them were delayed (one for more than four hours) because of the volcanic ash. I went down to the showgrounds today, to the driving office, to pick up our tickets for the show and the Tattoo (which we will enjoy on Friday night). The horses are due to begin arriving tomorrow (Tuesday), and so I was glad to get in and out of the way before the mayhem! The weather has improved a little today and we saw the sun. It has been cold all weekend, colder than ususal.”

May 20, 2009

the final day of the show

Posted by Jennifer under competitions, RWHS, travel / destinations, Windsor
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The final day of this year’s Royal Windsor Horse Show was as exciting as you might expect. With the final phase of the FEI driving, the beautiful “private drive” of the British Driving Society, and final rounds and championships in many of the show’s most popular classes, there was a lot to see. I missed most of the show jumping, unfortunately, but some of the biggest classes, including the grand prix, are held on the final Sunday of the show.

The weather on Sunday was variable. I awoke to bright sunshine, and then by a bit later in the morning, it was pouring rain. The rain was so steady and the clouds so solid that it looked as if it were set in for the day, but by late morning it had blown over and the sun was back out. Then, in the early afternoon, it rained again, and then cleared up again. And on and on it went. As you might imagine with all this rain blowing in and out, it was really quite windy.

In the FEI driving, the rain, hooves, and carriage wheels had turned the warm-up area into a sea of mud, and the carriage cleaners must’ve had quite a job at the end of the day! When everything was finished, Dieter Hoefs of Germany had won the pony four-in-hand division with a score of 170.89, Beat Schenk of Switzerland had won the horse pair division with a score of 130.98, and the reigning world champion, Ysbrand Chardon of the Netherlands, had won the horse four-in-hand division with a score of 134.09. In the horse pairs, American driver Randy Cadwell finished in 9th place overall, with a score of 154.57. In the middle of the afternoon in the main arena, HM The Queen presented the awards to the winners of the FEI driving competition.

American driver Randy Cadwell on the cones course with her pair of horses

in the horse pair division, Austria's Isidor Weber won the cones phase and finished sixth overall; his horses are owned by one of the members of our CAA group at the show

in the horse pair division, Austria’s Isidor Weber (shown here on the cones course) won the cones phase and finished sixth overall; his horses are owned by one of the members of our CAA group at the show

Ysbrand Chardon, saluting the crowd and celebrating his victory after the awards ceremony in the main arena

In the early afternoon, a large number of beautiful turnouts gathered in one of the arenas and then left for a lovely (and, unfortunately, rainy) long drive through the park. This annual class in composed of BDS members and is judged as a concours d’elegance of sorts. The judge each year is an artist (this year, it was Joy Claxton), and her task is to pick the turnout that makes the lovliest picture, the one she’d most like to paint.

as is tradition, HRH Prince Philip led the way for the BDS drive

a long line of carriages, heading out of the showgrounds and into the park for their annual drive

Some of the highlights from the rest of the day:

one of the several packs in the annual meet of the hounds

the members of the team from England celebrate their victory in the Pony Club games, which go on throughout the show (with the final on Sunday) and which pit England against teams from Wales, Scotland, Ireland, and Northern Ireland

a bit of the excitement from the final round of the Shetland Pony Grand National (look at the jumping form of that gray pony!!)

a bit of the excitement from the final round of the Shetland Pony Grand National (look at that gray pony’s form!!)

In the evening, our CAA group met one last time for a farewell dinner. We enjoyed a traditional British Sunday dinner of roast beef, Yorkshire pudding, and vegetables. Speeches were given, stories shared, and then, sadly, goodbyes made. We’ll be back again next year with a new group of travelers and, in the meantime, we’ll be traveling to Germany in August for the 2009 FEI World Pony Driving Championships and to Argentina in November. Whether in person or here on the travel blog, we hope you’ll join us!

May 17, 2009

an exciting FEI marathon

Posted by Jennifer under coaching, competitions, RWHS, travel / destinations, Windsor
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Saturday was, of course, marathon day for the FEI drivers: 7 pony four-in-hand teams, 21 horse pairs, and 24 teams of horses (there are no single horses, single ponies, or pairs of ponies at the competition this year). The weather was good, with a few sprinkles but mostly just alternating clouds and sun, and quite a lot of wind. The several hills in and out of the water at the final obstacle, though, had turned to deep, slippery muck by the end of the afternoon. For most of the day, I stayed at the end of this obstacle where the drivers both enter and exit, as I’ve found over the years that I really like the photos I can get there. I did, though, stop at a few other obstacles on my way to the water. One new one is on a slight rise so that the posts and rails are about at eye level, making it a bit hard to see what the horses are doing inside the wooden maze. Another is actually set down into a depression, so this one is easier to watch. The “depression” at this obstacle is, as I understand it, known as the ice rink because it would be flooded with water in the winter and allowed to freeze, at which point Queen Victoria could watch from the castle windows as her grandchildren ice-skated. Of course, this was long before all the trees there now were either planted or allowed to grow.

George Bowman IV (known as “Young George” because he’s the son of the famous George Bowman) had one of the fastest times of the day through the water obstacle.

George Bowman IV, on his way out of the water obstacle

Near the end of the day, both Pippa Bassett (GB) and Boyd Exell (Australia) had a horse slip and fall coming up the muddy bank out of the water, but both horses appeared to be fine as they left. By the end of the marathon phase, Boyd had overtaken the lead from Ysbrand Chardon (Netherlands), the current world champion, who had led after dressage. We’ll have to see what today brings in the cones.

The current world champion, Ysbrand Chardon of the Netherlands, in the water obstacle

The current world champion, Ysbrand Chardon, in the water obstacle

After the first two phases, Randy Cadwell (USA) currently stands in seventh place overall.

Also on tap yesterday at the show were more show classes, more jumping, the “best turned out trooper” class for the mounted cavalry, service team show jumping (military, police, etc. making up the teams), the Shetland pony steeplechase, and more.

one of the competitors in the "best turned out trooper" class, waiting to go into the main arena

a competitor in the “best turned out trooper” class, waiting to go into the main arena

There were considerably more people attending the show, too, because of the fine, dry weather and because it was Saturday. I walked through the military section of the vendor area, where all the equipment is on display, and there was a tremendous amount of activity: people lined up to go on the various simulators, kids exploring the insides of helicopters and personnel carriers, army cooks making pancakes to give away, push-up contests, kids getting their faces painted with camouflage paint, target shooting, and more. And this in addition to all the booths promoting the various military branches and units. And the vendor area was, as you might imagine, teeming with people.

Today is the grand finale: the cones phase of the FEI event, the BDS private drive, the final round of the Shetland Pony Grand National (steeplechase), the delightful meet of the hounds, the Alltech Royal Windsor Grand Prix (jumping), and more, including a daytime performance of the musical drive of the King’s Troop. And, for our group, a farewell dinner. So I’ll have one more report after all that, and then I’ll be heading home.

May 16, 2009

coaching and more

Posted by Jennifer under Windsor
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Yesterday was another beautiful day at the horse show. Beautiful in terms of what we watched – the weather was, shall we say, variable. Fortunately for a couple of us, when it did briefly pour down with rain, we had just sat down under a tent to eat lunch. Then it started to sprinkle, then rain, then pour, and a multitude of people crowded into the tent. Luckily, the rain didn’t last very long and, of course, the horse show continued throughout. Unluckily for everyone involved with the coaching marathon, all the coaches had started to assemble for their drive into the main arena when the downpour commenced.

Undaunted, the nearly twenty coaches trotted smartly into the main arena at their appointed time, where they lined up for the judges’ inspection. There were three regimental coaches, four road coaches, and a large number of private coaches / park drags. Once the two judges (Jack Pemberton and John Parker) had a good look at them all, they left for their drive through the park.

One of the members of our group, Dr. Gibelli (president of the Coaching Club in Argentina), had been asked to judge the coach horn competition, and I was lucky enough to be able to ride along with him. Dr. Gibelli, Jill, Bob (who was our navigator and who held the Union Jack at our stops, which was the horn blowers’ signal to play), and I piled into our official Land Rover with our driver, and off we went. Because anyone who’s important at this show is driven around in an official Land Rover, it was kind of funny to see horse-show spectators peering in as we drove by, to see who might be in the car.

The judges were in their own Land Rover, and we all went to a variety of stops. We stopped along the “Long Walk” and along a road in the interior of the park, where, of course, we heard all the coach horns being played. Mr. Pemberton and Mr. Parker, on the other hand, stopped at more places, to watch how the horses were going, to see how the drivers and horses handled a variety of turns, etc.

At the end of the several-miles drive, the coaches all lined up again and came into the main arena in a group for their final judging and awards.

three of the many coaches, heading down the Long Walk, with a portion of Windsor Castle in the background

four of the many coaches, heading down the Long Walk, with a portion of Windsor Castle in the background

Bill Ginns, here driving his park drag with the castle in the background, won the private coach division

Danny Kindle, driving the Household Cavalry’s coach, won the regimental coach division; he also won the award for the best turnout and was declared reserve champion overall

Bob Alexander won the road coach division and was declared overall coaching champion

Bob Elliot won the coach horn award; he was the guard on Ian Smith’s original road coach, driven by Ken Ruthven

Later that afternoon, several members of our group met with Karen Bassett, one of the British four-in-hand drivers, who very kindly took us on a course walk of most of the marathon obstacles. She explained all the ins and outs of driving marathon obstacles and answered everyone’s questions. She also told us that, unfortunately, one of her best horses, a wheeler, had come up lame the day before and might not be able to compete in the marathon. Which would mean that she would have to move a horse that normally goes in the lead into the vacant wheeler position. This particular horse has never been at the wheel, so she’s not sure what to expect on the marathon today. The “problem” with this scenario, as Karen explained it, is that you normally don’t want the leaders to actually do any real pulling. The wheelers are the powerhouse workers, and the leaders, if they’re not really pulling, allow better articulation of the turns in the obstacles. So putting a leader in a wheel spot is a challenge because that horse is now being asked to work harder and pull the carriage around: something it’s not used to having to do. We’ll see what happens today on the marathon!

Additional scenes from the show:

the judge riding one of the entries in a cob class

competitors lined up and awaiting their turn in the tent-pegging competition; in this class, they gallop across the arena, two at a time, and attempt to spear (and pick up) what appears to be a chunk of styrofoam on the ground