Compienge - WEC pre-ride

["John & Sue Greenall" <greenall@vermontel.net>]

I just returned from Compienge and can tell all of you that are 
planning on going that you are in for a real treat!!  The town is 
lovely, the grounds are wonderful and the people are the best.  
Some rudimentary French would be helpful as English is not 
always spoken, even at the ride.  The ride itself was deciptively 
difficult as seen by the completion rate.  Interestingly, most of the 
pulls were for lameness, although there were horses treated for 
metabolics.  One of the factors on the ride was the weather, the 
first hot stuff they had seen all Spring.  The French put in lots of 
short steep hills and turns to make the course more technical.  I 
am sure that there will be revisions before the WEC.  The footing 
was sandy loam, but some rocks and lots of pavement crossings.  
If wet, the footing could get deep.  The second and fourth hold 
overlooked a rebuilt medieval castle, wow.  The musee de cheval in 
Chantilly is a must, incredible stable, educational exhibits, 
outstanding horses, great show, could spend all day there.  
Travelling with the horses was quite an experience in itself and to 
be thankful that they were all frequent flyers and not youngster.  
Jedi ate through the take-off and landing!  Worst part is the loading 
and unloading from the plane as the container goes in all directions 
and you never know which.  I rode off of the plane in Paris and was 
knocked off my water bucket seat twice!
Best of luck to all of you that are working towards Compienge!
John and Sue Greenall
mailto:greenall@vermontel.net
http://www.vermontel.com/~greenall