The wind certainly has changed for the better and gone round to the south so we’ve had a lovely sunny weekend. Perfect for the final two days of showjumping at Cluny. The first two days were grim so I don’t suppose that the icecream vendor setting up in the pouring rain on Thursday ever envisaged the never-ending queue for cornets by Sunday.
The show is part of the Grand National where France’s top riders compete in teams of two at various venues during the summer in jumping, eventing and dressage. At the end of the season the points awarded to each team are added up to find the champions of 2013.
The jumps were enormous, higher than the horses’ heads. So there were plenty of thrills and spills. We met our riding instructor there who asked if we could guess what we might be doing for our next lesson!
One way or another we’ve had quite a horsey week. Our grandchildren from Scotland have been with us and one of their favourite occupations has been to come and help feed the horses which we are looking after for our neighbours.
Last Sunday we went up to the stables at Laizé for the circus day. For a while we watched the children learning tricks on the horses then took ourselves off for a walk with our favourite Shetland pony, Blondie.
The children seem to like our life in the country with the animals. We hope that when they are old enough they will be able to spend their whole summer holiday with their Mamie and Papi just like the French kids do.
After the lesson we went around again, this time with the hay. I probably enjoyed that more than risking life and limb going round those jumps. Is it too late to become a stable girl?
