Time: The One Thing You Can’t Buy - Carpe Diem

Mark Todd Squeezes Through The Trout Hatchery At Burghley

Adelaide CCI**** finished yesterday and with it the end of eventing in 2011, well except maybe for some crazy Americans down in the depth south and some in the southern hemisphere. So as we prepare enter December, and I prepare to enter Dubai on my way round the world (the wrong way round!) I got to thinking about how fabulous the sport has been this year, and all the fun I’ve had eventing or otherwise.

It’s been a year of opportunities not to be missed, in my personal life, my professional life, and my horsey life. The ‘big’ season for me always starts with Badminton and this year’s event gave me the chance to witness everybody’s favourite eventer, Mark Todd, take the title for a 4th time, in what proved to be one of the best Badmintons for many years. We had great weather, most of the world’s best event riders vying to catch the selectors eye, and the greatest collection of event horses I’ve ever seen gathered in one place.

Battle Of The Kings & A Little Last Minute Dot Com

Will He Win?

So here I am sat in my sister's house again,  a few minutes up the road from Gatwick Airport, only days after the last impromptu stay on route to somewhere that sounds so much more glamourous than it really is.

The eventing season (in Europe at least) is drawing to a close, and that means Pau CCI****. It's already all over the news that there is some serious $$$$$ at stake courtesy of the HSBC FEI Classics Series, and William Fox-Pitt needs to win Pau in order to snatch the bonus right from underneath Mary King's nose.

The Germans Are Back

Michael Jung | European Champion

It was perhaps inevitable mid way through yesterday's cross country phase that preventing a clean sweep by the Germans of the HSBC European Eventing Championship medals, was going to take a little more luck, and you'd have to conclude the Germans really deserved the spoils. All the medal winners were so focused, and Michael Jung & Ingrid Klimke were so impressive throughout the competition.

Whilst Ingrid is as experienced as any senior British squad member, Michael Jung made his 4 star debut only two years ago,  and is now the current holder of both European & World championship titles. Now that is some achievement for someone so young!

Taking all the medals on home turf is a fairytale ending for Germany, and a well deserved win all round, something I hope Team GBR will be looking to emulate next year. Ingrid was pushing for home right from the start, making one or two fences look a little rushed, and the rest of the German team took their fair share of risks out on the cross country course, which in the end paid off, but have they peaked too early?

The Europeans Seemed To Have Arrived From Nowhere

All The Aussies Are Over Here!

It seems to have been a quirky year for eventing. A number of top horses are out with injury, we've had a southern hemisphere invasion, Badminton ran over Easter weekend, a few Germans ran their Badminton mounts again at Luhmühlen in June, and now it's back to Luhmühlen for the HSBC FEI European Eventing Championships, which doesn't see to have got as much air time as it usually does.

Perhaps I've just been spending too much time in the States (which is about to increase!), and have missed all this, but I think it's more likely being over shadowed by talk of the Olympics and all the Antipodeans who have been rifling through their ancestry to satisfy visa conditions or residency status, and are pitching up in the UK for pre-Olympic prep, or just to get caught up in the general euphoria that's erupting here at the moment. Whether it's Hamish on his English adventure or the entire Kiwi squad, there are Antipodeans everywhere!

Anyway, back to the European Championships.... From the freshly updated list of entries (see below), hot off the press this morning, the first thing that strikes you is the number of new names on the list. Team GBR has only one new name on the list, Laura Collett, who is no stranger to the championship podium, with a medal haul of what seems like everything from tiddly-winks right up to Young Rider Europeans, having been hung round her neck.