North of England Summer Show
Trip Start
May 28, 2007
1
46
49
Trip End
Jul 2007
London,
United Kingdom
Sunday, July 8, 2007
The drive was short, but absolutely stunning! such a great view of Lancashire. We entered the indoor arena and unfortunately my fears of bad lighting came true - it was very difficult to get photos of the horses, and if they did turn out the whole thing looks very yellow. The photos will jog our memory though, although some of the horses will be very difficult to forget.
The first class started at 7:30 am, beginning with the working hunter - which we only saw the flat work part of the class. The next classes began with the Show Hunter classes which I was eagerly awaiting - the first being the Lightweight, then Middleweight then Heavyweight.
The hunter classes were filled with extremely elegant horses which had more bone than a show horse. I was really taken by their quality and the large amount of reach and straightness in their stride. These classes where judged by a ride judge and a conformation judge - the horses all worked around the ring in walk, trot, canter and gallop before being called in. The ride judge then rode all of the line up, and the other judge would assess the horses conformation whilst at a halt, walk and trot all without the saddle and rider. Obviously we have seen a similar type of proceeding at our shows in Australia with English Judges, but it was lovely watching it in their own country.
Next came the hacks - small and large, which were also judged by two judges, although different than the hunter classes. The horses also worked around the ring, but they did a free workout (called a 'show') before being ridden by the judge and stripped of the saddle. The hacks were stunning, and majority of them behaved. If they didn't behave whilst the judge rode them, they were asked to leave the ring. In all the classes, the judges put the most weight on their ride on the horse.
By the time these classes and their respective Champion classes had finished it was nearly 4pm. We decided to make the 5 hour journey back to London as we were worried about road closures with the Tour De France. We missed the Riding Horse and Cob classes which was a shame. On the way to the car we got a few photos of the property the show was on, and met a lovely older gentleman who was helping to park the lorry's (horse trucks) at the show. He was quite informative about the area, although he was confused as to why I was so taken by the countryside since he though I was English (apparently I don't sound very Australian lol).
Trent and I were soon on the road to London - enjoying letting the Sat Nav give up to date traffic reports and mucking around with the different 'bells and whistles' in the car. We were in London in good time, and after dropping the car off we were back at the hotel ready for a nice bath and a good nights sleep.
