Well, I tend to be a spur of the moment girl....... and several friends suggested  I JUST  HAD TO go to the UK to watch Quincey ( one of my lovely homebreds  ) have his first big CCI*** start with 24 yo French rider Sidney Dufresne .  So bought a ticket at last minute and left 4 days later .......!!! 
Arrived  at Headley , to stay with great mate  Mark Todd. Had a most enjoyable first afternoon  chilling out watching Toddy train his superstar horses Ben ( Badminton winner ) and Kinky .
Mark has a cute  character cottage he is  redecorating ,  just over the road from his   yard at Headley Stud. The stud is a " to die for "  property  belonging to American event rider Jules Stiller, whom he  also trains.
 Headed north  to Bramham next day and stayed with  good client Greta  Potter first night.  They kindly lent me their very cool campervan so I could  stay in lorry park at Bramham . Dressage day was stinking hot and we were all pleased with Quincey's dressage test, although he did fluff one canter change and got disunited behind another movement ,   basically still a bit green at this level , however   he went well for his  level of training. 
Walked the 'meaty ' XC with the French team and their trainer Laurent Bousquet as Sidney is French of course !!! 
XC  day seemed to be carnage in the CCI***.  Gosh , was I getting nervous after seeing so many horses   fall and  run off jumps  including some big names .   I positioned myself on a sofa  in the members stand with Eric ( NZ team trainer ) and watched on big screen. Poor Erik has to put up with me poking and pinching him whilst Quincey rocked around the XC like a superstar.... I was so thrilled he went clear with ease and a few time faults...PHEW !!!
  Sat night had  yummy BBQ dinner at Fox-Pitts lorry and caught up with Blyth and Paul for drinkies.
Quincey SJed well on last day,  a tad  tired and despite  rolling 2 rails, still moved up 5 places to finish 16th. All in all a  good result for his first big 3* and we were all happy .
 Sadly, I have Quincey  for sale now  as it is ridiculous having a 3* horse  in UK and I cannot get to see him  go.   Anyone that is  interested please  message me here or ring me direct for video links  and further info.

It was brill  to  see Polly Stockton get 2nd in the CCI*** class on her  great old campaigner Regulus and catch up with  her mum and dad  and   baby Jake ( new addition ) and  close friend Tiddles .
Also , it was a  popular   win  for Jock Paget , taking away the  CIC*** class with his new ride Clifton Lush ( ex Joe Meyers ). 

Bramham over so   I headed   back to Headley. It was farewell to Bettina Hoy who had been staying  with Mark for some weeks with her eventers and heading back to Germany.  What a special  lady !!  I have always admired her and was a treat to meet her and get to know her a little.
My next adventure was driving into middle of London  by myself  ( with help of a  trusty Sat Nav) ,  to visit  Aliba , a great mate of Todd's . 
 A delightful  and fun  hostess but sadly had some little drama's involving  my car, like nowhere to park the bloody thing ,,, and locked keys and all my  wordly belongings in car ,,,, lets not go there !!!

Next stop  was my dear friend  Lucy Jackson  near Tetsworth. Had a awesome  catch up and a yummy  impromptu  BBQ , and lots of giggles .   Lucy has built up a great team of talented horses so that is looking exciting  for her future !!!!
Nearby was a  good friend/client Katie Wick and her NZ eventer Prime Mecury Bay (Jimmy ) so briefly said hi and met the new addition to the family,  baby  Felix .  Katie has her hands full there  with  ' mini me ' little  Felix !!! Jimmy is looking amazing and really grown up now , with  a big neck and topline, great to see. They love Jimmy  to bits !!!
On way back to Headley , called by to visit Erik and Steph Duvander at their charming cottage in Upper Basildon.  They are happily settled and the kids are loving their new school and fast making friends. Erik is a crucial  part of the NZ Eventing Team network and works tirelessly  with the goal of NZ back to winning GOLD MEDALS  again !!!!
My next port of call was to visit Clarke Johnstone , a new arrival in  UK with his 4 talented eventers   he has flown in from NZ . His base is around the corner from Gatcombe Park. What a fab yard  , all relatively new and so spic and span !!! Clarke was very proud to show me around and his horses had arrived and settled in well . We headed down  to the local  pub ( as  you do in UK ) for a pint and a meal.
Next day was pouring rain and freezing  but I headed up the M4 once again to  go see Blyth Tait and Paul O'Brien. It was a bit special for me as they are close to Guiting Power,
a quaint old village I was based  in back in 1982 when I was in the UK with  an eventer  called Raupo.  I have many fond memories  so it was nice to go back and have a peek  around again.
Blythe and Paul have a cute cottage in the small picturesque  Bledington  and of course we just wandered  down to the pub  for the eve .
Santos and his  cool  new 3* ride Sonate V  ( see pic ) are based at Eddie Stibbes wonderful yard, with everything one would need to prepare an event horse to the high levels.
Running out of days at this stage , but a mad dash down to Dorset  was next  on agenda to visit my great mates/clients  William and Alice  Fox-Pitt and check out the two horses I have recently sourced for them from NZ .  William was very organised  despite packing to leave  for Lumuhlen  4* and kindly rode  Parker ( Parklane Hawk ) for me. He is looking really good ,  and had not been out since his big win of the CCI*** Blenheim at end of last season due to a niggling splint but was gearing up for his first start.  Then William treated me to watching Billy ( Henton For Fun ) do some dressage and some jumping,,,, gosh, I had forgotten how seriously flash he is.  He just floats around with that "look at me " air about him .  He is only a baby still at 4 yo  so plenty of time for him .
Flew back to Headley in time to go out for a nice  Italian meal in Newbury  with Becky Elvin and Logan Rawlings. Becky is Mark's amazing secretary and Logan is American eventer based in UK whom I first met couple of years ago when she worked for Fox-Pitts.   Ironically ,  Logan was one of my very earliest Amercican clients. Back when she was only 16 yo, her family imported off video a super NZ eventer  via QNZH for Logan to compete in USA.
 Sadly my last day in UK was finally hot...ish  FINALLY  so  just lazed around in the sun as much as I could .
I had run out of days  to visit some of the other NZ riders and friends  ..........  will have to allow more days to do everything next time around.

Back in  NZ , although it is mid winter, the  day I got back was blue skies and bright sunshine and very hairy horses !!!
NZ , I do love you !!!!