More than rain fell

Tuesday 31st August

We awoke to rain. Quelle surprise! We consumed a

Anne and Hank

delicious breakfast, then trundled up to the horses, we all departed in different directions, and went out for a longer ride than yesterday. I managed to come across a fair few locked gates, which somewhat hindered my progress as a pioneering new age explorer. However I did see what could have been some nice views, however the low cloud decided these views were not available for viewing, but it was still a very nice ride, Austrian terrain is proving much more interesting than England can provide. We then headed back to the barracks to consume some delightfully tasty duck breast, and had a delayed siesta due to Julians horse, eventually, being diagnosed with azoturia, which wasn't the best of news. Eventually we headed back to the stables after a long game of darts and listening to some brilliant tunes, and the Young Riders went out en masse to put the horses over some jumps and to do a bit of schooling, Harvey was definitely having a fantastic time. All was going well, until Merlin/Hank, decided that actually he didn't really like the idea of cantering and managed to put in a very hefty set of bucks, which eventually managed to relocate Anne to terra firma, much to our surprise. To this Julia responded by getting on, however this ended with Julia on the floor twice, Anne managed to get him working, seemingly, a little better, and no more catastrophes occurred, however doubt was cast over whether the horse was appropriate for the competition. After the end of this silly game, we all headed back to the stables, in the rain, without mishap, settles the horses again and went back to the barracks for munchies. We then went down to the common room downstairs, relaxed to some music, and experienced the joys of an Austrian fridge, then the time came when the collective smell of us became too much, and was rather pungent, so we trundled off to the showers. The Portuguese joined us in the drinking of exotic beverages, and even brought their own supplies of their local brews, however none of us consumed any of it, as we all wanted to be on top form for the weekend.