"The Bit - Straight from the horse's mouth"

Cross Country Day...

After the briefing, we picked up our packed lunches (including giant apples) and trekked out onto the course. The radio check gave us our first experience of multi-lingual control. There were lots of British voices as well as German and Polish. This was particularly challenging as one of the Polish phrases they were using a lot sounded very much like "stop" at the end which kept startling us! It was also difficult to understand what was going on at times and it took concentration not to zone out when there was a lot of chatter in a different language. 

Elin had a busy day in/at the water replacing the flags (her boots are yet to fully recover). Helen got to see every horse and had a good view of the cross country warm up. Alix's fences gave us a few hairy moments with horses slipping on the turn but we had no faults all day. We also had a good view of a number of other fences so got to see quite a lot of the action. There was some masterful riding, some big shocks and generally an exciting competition. This also included some brilliant performances from the British riders which was fabulous to see.
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On the way back to the campsite to off load our stuff there was a moment of extreme bravery and stopped Michael Jung to ask him for a photo with Raceberry. He was running late for the press conference but willingly obliged. What a gent!

Miraculously the brave streak continued when I spotted the (lovely) rider/TV commentator extraordinaire Harry Meade outside the press tent and the #huntforharry was successful. I got a photo with him and Raceberry and enjoyed a lovely chat about the day.

We were also lucky enough to grab a Raceberry selfie with Spencer Sturmey and John Kyle from FEI tv. Then in a continuation of the broadcaster/commentator trend we also ran into Mike Tucker and got another picture for Raceberry's ever growing collection.

In the evening we got to experience a Polish rock band. Despite not understanding what they were on about (Helen was hoping for some Bon Jovi) they were pretty catchy and the atmosphere in the crowd was awesome.

Back in the hospitality tent we caught the end of a fire show in the main arena. 

Then the French contingent got the party started on the dance floor (and dragged us up join them!). The fire theme continued with a cocktail (koktail in Polish by the way) making display which culminated in the barman setting fire to the bar and juggling flaming bottles. However he also inadvertently set fire to the carpet, leading to him and his friend frantically trying to stamp out the flames (still left a hole in the carpet though!). Serves him right really as he didn't give us any of the free cocktails despite all our whooping and cheering ;-) ah well, it's probably for the best....

The Dressage Days...

Yesterday and the day before were really hot! Standing in the sun, with no shade in 27 degree heat, wearing the event uniform was not particularly comfortable but being in the stands at C meant we had super views of all of the competitors.

To be there to see that remarkable test from Bettina Hoy was amazing but we have also witnessed some superb performances throughout the last 2 days. The buzz in the stands creates a great atmosphere although not everyone has been respectful of all competitors with people trying to walk around and be noisy during the tests. The international noise of "shush" seems to work though!

Raceberry hot hoofed it to the press tent yesterday to take part in the Berry Crush that Strzegom had organised with Jon Stroud. It was great to see the dozen Berry ponies lined up in the main arena and just shows how far the charity has reached. The challenge is now on for Blair to exceed the number of Berries it can get together!

This morning we were at the cross country briefing which is an entertaining mix of English, German and Polish! The best quote so far is " if a horse loses a shoe at your fence, you do not need to report it...... unless the leg is still attached!"

Raceberry and Helen are on their own of Fence 1 today, Elin is with Jo Biggs and 2 local ladies on fence 16 and Alix is with Hannah Cole on fences 17 and 18.

The Journey So Far...

​I (Helen) set off from Warwickshire at 7.30pm Tuesday evening after my day at work. I drove to Bristol to collect Elin and Alix, where we repacked the car entirely, after agreeing that cup holders in the rear centre arm rest were incredibly important and a reconfiguration was required!

Elin drove from Bristol to Folkestone to get used to my car on UK roads and we made very good time!!!!

I took over the driving, having heard about people scuffing alloys getting onto the train, I thought it best that if anyone was going to get it wrong, it may as well be me! Boarding the Euroshuttle was an interesting experience, we're not sure what the various border control individuals thought of our line up of Berry ponies, but there were certainly some interesting looks thrown our way. That was nothing, however, the look that was given to us by the chap on the train that came past when we had 'Summer Lovin' from Grease playing very loudly through the open windows! Thank goodness for cars with DVD players to make the journey more interesting.
The marvels of European sat nav meant that we were quickly on our way, heading from Calais up to Dunkirk before crossing into Belgium. It was now 3am, pitch black and all about remembering that we need to be on the wrong side of the road, overtaking is effectively under-taking and that the speed limits are in Kph 🙈

The next 3 hours were somewhat of a blur really, Elin caught up on some sleep in the back, Alix kept me company for the most part, taking control of the tunes and periodically checking that Google maps agreed with the sat nav. As we got to Brussels, both systems had a complete disagreement and we decided to go with Google based on the slightly reduced journey time, but the in car sat nav wouldn't have it! It would not re-reroute and spent a ridiculous amount of time telling us to turn around where possible! Eventually it got so exasperated with us, it gave up and saw it our way! 

As we got into Germany, the dawn broke and so did my stamina! At 7.30am we stopped at one of the many well signposted service stations and had it confirmed that you do have to pay to spend a penny, but it's simple because you can use a contactless card!

Elin carried on the driving and managed to navigate about 2hrs worth of roadworks, including one complete diversion! She basically did all of this on her own, because Alix and I both fell asleep within minutes of setting off!

The German countryside that we saw was a mixture of forest, hills and farmland, with some amazing buildings dotted around. We seemed to go uphill quite alot and we can't quite remember coming down again!

At 11am we stopped again and switched drivers for the final leg. I now appreciated exactly what Elin had gone through, given that both her and Alix immediately fell asleep and I got to enjoy fairly clear roads, giant tunnels and one hell of a lot rain! In fact the rain didn't stop until we crossed the border into Poland, which felt amazing! 

With just 10 miles to go we left the main roads and seemed to regress entirely onto a cobbled street and roads that seemed to be simply potholes held together with bits of tarmac! 

After 18 and half hours travelling, we had made it to Strzegom!

The venue is great! A road runs straight through the middle, with competitors restaurant, campsite and half the xc one side and everything else the other. Everyone is very friendly and super helpful, as you might expect and following a visit to accreditation and a briefing we went about put up the tent and getting the airbeds blown up!

Thursday and Friday we are in the dressage stands making sure people don't move around during tests and keeping quiet!

Introducing the 'BEVs'

Our three volunteering adventurers all met whilst volunteering at Blenheim Palace Horse Trials in 2015 and whilst they are not geographically close, the camaraderie of the volunteers is such that they have become firm friends, meeting up at various events throughout the season.

When all three were selected to fence judge at the Europeans, they decided they would try and maximise the experience and make it a road trip with a purpose! Not only do they want to raise the profile of being a BE Volunteer (hence the BEV name), they have an extra special guest joining them for the journey...

Elin

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"I've been volunteering on and off since 2004, but on a regular basis for about 10 years. Roles I've done include dressage stewarding and writing, fence judging, crossing points, cross country and show jumping collecting ring, tea run, general dogsbody...you name it, I've probably done it!

I volunteer mainly to stay involved in the sport, and to have front seat access to some of the best action available! That's also why I applied to the Europeans - realising that being involved at a championship level starts with an enquiry, and luckily they were happy to have me!"

Helen

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"I've been a volunteer on and off for a number of years but started doing it more regularly in 2015 whilst my horse was off on maternity leave. I went on a British Eventing Fence Judge training course and haven't looked back!

Whilst I mostly fence judge, I have also done dressage writing, collecting ring steward for dressage, show jumping, cross country and BYEH and the tea run. I went on a BE Controller and Commentator training course last year, but I'm not sure that I'm brave enough for that just yet!

It's really exciting to be selected to go to Strzegom and what an amazing experience to be able to add to my volunteering CV!

Alix

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"I began volunteering in 2013 and my diary is always pretty busy from March to October!

I've mainly done fence judging but also dressage stewarding and writing and crossing point stewarding. I'm always happy to do whatever role is needed!

I do it to be more involved with a sport I love watching, to get to go to amazing venues and see my heroes up close!"

A very special guest...

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The whole team are hugely excited that RACEBERRY will be joining them on the journey.

As big supporters of Willberry Wonder Pony, it is extremely exciting that the guardian's of Hannah Francis' incredible ponies have agreed to let Raceberry accompany Helen, Elin and Alix on their adventure. It offers a super opportunity to continue to highlight the super work that is done by the charity and this incredible legacy left by Hannah.

​Follow the journey across Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, keep an eye out for Blogs and Vlogs, check out the Willberry Wonder Pony site and follow the British Eventing Volunteers on Facebook!

The race to Strzegom is on!