August 6, 2018

We are about to fly out on an MGAA international trip. Follow our blog posts here to see our adventures!

Has to check out the candy supply

We are about to board our flight now. We will be back on UK time tomorrow!

July 25, 2019

This past weekend we kicked off the 2019 MGAA International Team activities with a training camp. The Radford family stepped up to host everyone at their lovely home in Lovettsville, VA and we were able to arrange some gracious ride time at the Carpenter’s arena in nearby Round Hill, Virginia.

We knew from the start that teammember Sadie was not going to be able to make the weekend and we missed her crazy antics and amazing personality but we had a fantastic time even without her. Jesse was also only able to take part in the first ride session and daytime social time but we took what we could get. Abby F, Abby R, and Mikayla were all in for the long haul arriving Friday evening. I joined them at the ring for the first ride session Saturday morning.

We had a nice assortment of ponies including four of the Radford’s, my two, my teammate Matt’s pony Hero and although we didn’t need more, my other teammate Val also offered all of her ponies. Matt and Val both know how important it is for these riders to get on as many different ponies as possible. And also how important it is for me to see how they handle different ponies and which ones they are most comfortable on.

This weekend was important for me to also get to know the riders better. I regularly coach Abby F and Mikayla on their usual MGAA team, and I also coached Sadie last summer. But I have not worked with Abby R or Jesse. So getting to know them under saddle, especially on different ponies was extremely helpful. It was also an excellent opportunity for the riders to get to know each other and how they interact, and also get to know me as a coach.

I noted how they handed off with each other and who seemed most comfortable riding which ponies and doing which skills. So lots of good stuff there.

We started off with a nice two hour practice with me mostly observing them and their riding. They made very few mistakes and all rolled along nicely.

Did I mention it was ridiculously hot and all sorts of events were cancelling for the extreme conditions? Well these girls, and our ever helpful ring crew of Heather and Beth labored through the heat without a complaint.

After the first session we took a nice long relaxing break and enjoyed a refreshing and delusions lunch provided by Heather. We also spent a good few hours together making some reservations for the trip. The team helped pick out the hotel we will be staying in for the one night we are staying somewhere hotel-ish. And then we researched and found a camp ground in Northern Wales in Snowdonia where we will be exploring for a few days before the competition. The team was very helpful and Abby R is the one that finally found a camp ground for us.

Eventually we were back out for session two of riding. It was still wicked hot but by the time we were tacked up a storm was pending and pushing in much cooler air, forcing on a nice strong breeze and it even decided to rain lightly on us. It was all welcomed as the girls ran through another hour and a half of races before we called practice because of lightning. In this session I picked a few skills I saw that needed a little work and gave out a little home work for when the riders went back home. It was another excellent practice.

Back at the Radford’s house we dove into some pizza and then I was surprised with a delicious birthday cake and lovely presents from everyone. It was my birthday and it was so appreciated that everyone made me feel special. I can’t wait to show off my gifts and it really showed how much they all know me!

Right after cake I showered and then went right to sleep. That heat sucks it out of you. Plus I needed to rest up for the fun mini scrimmage back at the Carpenters the next day. And to avoid the heat we were starting early.

Sunday we were tacked up and ready to roll nice and early. Matt, who is a Pony Club Horseman is about to go to Pony Club Champs East, as were two other friends, Virginia and Grace. So they agreed to scrimmage with us. And Val joined us and flipped back and forth between the teams filling in as the forth rider for two teams.

We rode for about two hours rolling through races with Heather and Karen schlepping equipment. I am so proud of the team. They did an excellent job and rode well.

The whole weekend they were nothing short of fantastic and did an excellent job of jumping on a new pony and galloping off in a race whenever I said “switch”! There was not a single complaint and we did have a nice variety of build and personality in our ponies for them to show their skills on.

I am very much looking forward to the trip we have coming up in less than two weeks. I think this team is going to be extremely fun and will have an excellent time.

We hope you will join us in our blog posts and cheer us on as we share our adventures with you.

Here is a compilation of video clips from the second practice session and the scrimmage. Sorry, I did not think to get any video during the first session. And I also forgot to get a photo of everyone at the scrimmage.

July 16, 2018

I checked my duffel bag at the gate in France for the trip home. This was a special duffel I always tuck into my suitcase incase I am overweight on a trip, then I can just toss some my stuff into the bag and carry it on. Easy.

I planned to be over weight this time because I was purchasing a four flag holder, my “big trip purchase”. I put the four flag holder, my empty little backpack (purse), my Dublin river boots, my MGAA jacket and rain coat, my IMGA rulebook, a few clothing items and my very important “brain book” in the duffel with the holder.

My brain book is this small note book I keep in my daily bag and have running lists in, random notes, important information, odd passwords or user info (nothing anyone could decipher or “hack”), etc. It’s what I run my day to day life from and what I use to keep my brain straight.

It’s been a bit of a struggle since this bag has been lost to keep my life smooth and everything in order. Ah, no brain book! And of course I have wanted to play with my four flag holder!

My bag was lost on June 28th. It did not make the transfer in Ireland with the rest of the bags. It was found later that same night, the 28th sitting in Dublin. It sat there for over two weeks. I called the airline many times and was told it was still sitting in Dublin. I did some googling and it appears the baggage belts were broken in Dublin the day we went through and were down for quite some time. I was instructed to file a claim, which I did. It does take 60 days to hear back about that so we shall see what happens with that come September.

I called this morning and was told my bag was on its way to me and I was given a tracking number.

Oh yeah.

And I got home to find it sitting and waiting for me, not much worse for wear.

The bag itself was a prize I won at MGAA Nationals 2011 and a pretty significant piece of memorabilia in itself. It’s a decent little bag too and has held up well with lots of world and local travel. It now as a small rip in the stitching along the top but nothing a little sewing won’t fix good as new.

Hopefully I’ll be able to assemble my four flag holder later this week and put it into action!

June 27, 2018

The last full day of our trip. We admittedly slept a little late, only because last night’s bike ride ran so late. But before too late we were on the metro and headed for brunch before the catacombs.

Might as well share some food photos. This was goat cheese, peppers and bread.

Crepes.

waiting and waiting and waiting for our check so we can leave. And waiting. And waiting. And waiting.

The line for the Catacombs was really long.

Like 3 hours long. Emma and I ended up waiting in line. The girls took turns going for fruit and ice cream and sitting in the shade. These two photos were taken before they went off in search of food and shade.

But we did finally make it inside.

It started off with some information.

and then you entered the real part where all the bones are.

No flash photography.

I got two shots of the team with the bones.

The photos did not come out great. But I think you get the idea.

They are organized with markers of when and where they are from.

And it just goes on and on and on.

I kept wondering what it was like to be the guy who’s job it was to stack them.

Catacombs video

In the end the team decided it wasn’t that great and they wouldn’t recommend it to others. We asked if it was just because of the wait to get in and they still said “nah, it just wasn’t that cool”. Emma and I both thought it was really neat. But Emma and I both read some of the information (which was in both English and French) and enjoyed the history around it. The kids informed us on multiple occasions they do not like or care much for history. So I can see why this was just not their thing.

Because of their lack of excitement of the Catacombs and everyone’s exhaustion we decided to ask if they wanted to go to the Louvre instead of just taking them there. They all told us flat out “NO” they did not want to go. When asked individually if any of them did want to go, because Emma or I would still be happy to take one, or a few of them every single one of them assured us that NO they did not want to go and to please not make them.

So we agreed to go have dinner on the lawn near the Eiffel Tower and then go home to shower and pack and get a decent. nights sleep for our early departure tomorrow.

I am currently typing this while watching our bags, laying on the lawn, under the tower, while they pick out dinner.

I think we are all exhausted and just plum worn out. It has been two weeks of go go go. And this sudden warm French weather has shocked us after the wet cold Welsh days and nights. I am also currently struggling not to nod off while I type this.

video

A little fun on the lawn.

And a little fun in a fountain

I realize there are multiple very similar photos of these two but I could not decide which one I liked best.

They are all three memorable photos.

All of us were laughing it up watching them.

And entertained us all.

For the record we were told that playing in the fountains was ok and acceptable. And we witnessed plenty of other people doing the same.

It was a warm day.

We tried for a few typical photos and were not very successful.

Then we did a little last minute souvenir shopping.

And sorbet.

This one is black current and mango with a raspberry macaroon.

Caroline got the traditional flower looking cone.

Exhausted we made our way back to our apartment on the metro, which is dog friendly.

Now we are showering and Netflixing and preparing to pack for our return trip tomorrow.

And this is what our packing explosion looks like in the living room.

So much for an early night to sleep. It’s nearing 1am and we need to be out the door before 8am. So signing off.

Hope this one is better typed than the last few. I write these as I go about the day. So they may go out in segmented thoughts – since that’s how they are written. Yesterday’s I was falling asleep trying to capture their bike ride and had to go back and edit some bad typos this afternoon. I have not had a chance to do that for many of the other posts yet.

I’ll try to find time to reread them soon. For now I am literally typing out thoughts on my phone so that you can have an as updated experience of the trip as possible. I am literally putting in hours of screen time to make this possible.

And now I am rambling. 😊

Good night from France 🇫🇷

June 26, 2018

Today was our first full day in Paris. We ate, saw the Eiffel Tower, ate, walked, ate, did a night time bike tour, ate, did a little light tourist shopping, oh and we ate some amazing food.

The statues are amazing.

I just can’t get enough photos of the goodies in the pastry shops.

Giant tea plate sized meranges.

This amazing work of delicious art here, I just couldn’t leave it behind. It is full of pistachio cream and fresh raspberries sandwiched in a macaroon.

I ate the glorious thing sitting in the shade by the Eiffel Tower. A moment to remember.

It was a warm sunny day and that called for cooling off.

So we dipped our toes in the fountains by the Tower.

Some video fun in the fountain

and a team shot of course.

A quick French dinner before the bike tour.

While Emma and the team went to ride bikes Krista went for a solo wonder and stumbled over this tack store just before it closed. Right in Paris! It was just by the back entrance to the Aston Martin shop.

A little more wondering around, I grabbed some fruit and then took some metro trains back to the apartment. That’s it straight ahead, bottom floor. Not much to look at from out here.

See Santa there trying to climb over the fence?

Very good fresh cherries.

So for my evening, to relax while the girls are out bicycling I am streaming Outlander (which is available on Netflix here) and munching on cherries and meringue. I confess I am not the best of cyclist and knew the team was extremely excited for this adventure. Since Emma was comfortable doing it on her own I didn’t think it was fair for me to struggle along and slow them down. I can’t wait to hear how it went and they promised to take photos for me to include here. Emma texted the cycling part was complete with many near crashes but all were successful and they had moved onto the boat part.

I was just drinking some apple juice and realized it’s made by my employer! Woo! I have already mentioned I work for a French company. It feels pretty darn cool to have grabbed a bottle of juice, having almost drank it all down thinking, “damn good juice” and realize I am part of that company. Yea!

And they are back from the bike tour!

Emma says the girls were as wreckless as ever. Sadie’s chain broke quickly, and they were not interested in the info at the stopping points.

They said it was all busy streets with lots of cars

But they got to stop for ice cream

That it was hectic and Caroline hit a tree while testing out her bike. But we report no one was hurt. Except the lady behind them in the group appeared to be emotionally damaged from the affair.

The trip eventually switched to a boat. Which is reported to be a bit too long.

I am struggling to stay awake while these photos load so we can get this posted tonight before we crash out. Tomorrow has more adventures and is our last day here.

Emma adds – fruit is delicious.

Sadie says – best cherries she has ever eaten.

Fenya says – Fenya decided it was a good idea to run into a curb on her bike. It didn’t end well. It was an attempt to jump the curb. Nope. (She’s ok).

Today was all about bread. We all gained weight and the bike ride didn’t help us out. The bike guide was named Tobias.

Emma listened to the things they saw. Fenya said she listened once.

They saw the park by the Eiffel Tower, and the Tower itself. It was for the worlds fair, for the grand entrance. And Mr Eiffel paid for it with some stipulations and made a ton of money off it.

They also saw the French institute and the Pantheon, Napoleons tomb, they saw the Louvre, Notre Dame, they learned tons of stuff about these places and lots about the French Revolution.