2012: Wet And Wonderful

The Wonderful - History In The Making - The Unassailable Michael Jung Adds "Olympic Champion" To His CV

The Wet - A Common Sight All Year Despite An Official Drought

The 2012 Eventing season was ushered in with so much anticipation, and with a resoundingly great start in March, it was hard to imagine anything could slow the momentum,  prior to what would ultimately become the biggest and best Olympics the sport had ever seen. Weather patterns across the northern hemisphere caused havoc and unleashed extreme climate conditions. Whilst the US went from high, dry temperatures in the summer adversely affecting crop yields, to the flooding and devastating hurricanes along the eastern seaboard that left millions of lives in tatters or lost as far north as New York City, here in the UK mother nature threw everything she could at us as we experienced our wettest draught on record, forcing cancellation of the vast majority of events in the British calendar.

In spite of all this we built the greatest show on earth and the world's eventing nations sent their elite riders to challenge each other for the most coveted prizes in the sport - Olympic Medals.

Running The Ridgeway - #RWBAM

Charlie Massey's Bumper Sticker Says It All

Charlie [The Coffee Man] Massey's bumper sticker sums up his next few days succinctly - I Run Far! At 9AM this morning Charlie set off on the first leg of an 87 mile run along what is thought to be Britain's oldest road, The Ridgeway (est. 5,000 years old), a journey that will take him 4 days to complete.

In case you haven't been following Charlie on Twitter (and you should), the reason our Eventing Barista is running up hill and down dale is to raise funds for Spinal Research. During this epic run Charlie will have notched up over 2,000 miles this year, raising much needed funds for a charity our sport has a vested interest in.

Racehorses Exercising In Lambourn

I rarely travel through Lambourn in the morning these days, but I'm glad I did agree to pick Charlie up at his finishing stage for today and ferry him to the start over near Marlborough - From Seven Barrows To Long Barrows! As you may have seen from my tweet early this morning, you can get one of the best views in England on a winter's morning here in Lambourn as the racehorses gallop up the hills and saunter back during the early morning mists as dawn breaks.

Your Barista Needs You

Charlie (White T-Shirt), On Hand To Help At Claire Lomas's London Marathon Walk 

Charlie Massey, eventing's very own Barista, AKA "Charlie The Coffee Man" must go through trainers (sneakers) like my daughter goes through nappies. Charlie is a passionate runner and fundraiser, and throughout 2012 has been raising funds for Spinal Research by running Marathons and all manner of crazy challenges to attract sponsorship. With Marathons in London & the US, and about 2000 miles in between, his fundraising efforts are still ongoing. The man that serves us coffee at events is also a friend and big supporter of Claire Lomas, assisting during her monumental Robotic London Marathon Walk, and is helping with her plans to cycle from Paris to London.

On the 6th December Charlie will be running the Ridgeway, an ancient bridleway in the heart of eventing country in the UK, that stretches from Malborough in Wiltshire all the way through to the Chiltern Hills in Oxfordshire/Buckinghamshire.  This challenge will take place over four days (6th - 9th Dec) and is no walk in park, especially at this time of year, with some steep hills to climb. On the plus side the route does include some of the great hillside chalk horses Wiltshire is so famous for, and a few great pubs, I can highly recommend!

Charlie is looking for a few volunteers at the various checkpoints ("Aid Stations"), to be ready with much needed refreshment, so if you do have an hour to spare on any of these days and are in the general area please come out and support Charlie as he continues his fundraising efforts for this poignant and worthy cause.

The Many Faces Of Cross Country

Happy & Relaxed On Cross Country

As any eventing fanatic can tell you cross country is the phase that stirs the endorphins, gets the adrenaline pumping, and brings out all sorts of emotions depending on how your cross country ride goes. Searching through my photos recently for a winter project, I came across a number of photos of riders with the full range of  facial expressions captured, many of which you expect but several of which are quite surprising, and sometimes unintentionally comical.

Pippa Funnel - Expressive Rider

I've alway found Pippa Funnel one of the best to watch on cross country, not only because of her experience, but she is also a very expressive rider, which illustrates the talent needed to tackle some of these courses. At the other end of scale watch Andrew Nicholson or Andrew Hoy, and they barely use any of the 52 muscles in their face out on cross country, they're just fixed and focused from start box to finish line. In between you'll find a full compliment of emotional displays from frustration to elation.

Still photos capture a mere fraction in time of these emotions, but allow you to study those in more detail and I always find are more dramatic, more so than watching video (eg. watch the sequence of William Fox-Pitt at the 2011 European Championships) This can often leave you thinking "I wonder how that felt?" or "I wonder what was going through their mind at that point"

Here are a few photos to illustrate my point (I'll leave you to think up your own captions):