Olympic Connection

We are pretty excited that we have a (very distant) connection to the Olympic Games right now.  The first equestrian sport at the London Olympics is Three Day Eventing.  After the first phase, dressage, Mark Todd of New Zealand and his horse Campino are in third place.  One of our residents, Snappy, is a former mount of Mark Todd.  Snappy was a big time eventer many years ago (he is 30 this year) and was ridden by none other than the FEI's Eventer of the Century, Mark Todd.

Mark Todd won back to back Individual Gold Medals at the 1984 and 1988 Olympics.  Mark retired from eventing in 2000 and focused on breeding and training racehorses.  However he returned to the sport in 2008 with the purchase of Gandalf.  His goal was to make the New Zealand team for Beijing.  He not only managed to make the Olympic team the same year he returned to eventing, he finished 5th.  No wonder he was named the Eventer of the Century.

While he enjoys the good life with his friends Snappy will be cheering on Mark as they tackle the cross country course tomorrow.  Do I think Snappy longs for his days of galloping around the world's biggest cross country courses?  No.  He has a temper tantrum about coming in the barn every day to eat his hay cube mash.  These days Snappy is extremely concerned with what his horsey friends are up to and not much else.  I think he is quite happy to cheer from a distance!

______________________________

Faune and Gus having a grooming session; Asterik, Romeo, Silver, Winston and Lotus are grazing

Leo 

Chance

 Silver, George and Asterik

Romeo

Renny, Johnny and Murphy

Thor, Lucky, Snappy and Slinky

this could have been a great picture if I hadn't been standing in the wrong pasture; that is Fabrizzio and Walden doing sychronized rolling (a new sport in the summer Olympics)

another early morning view of the fog on the hills