3 day event Pau

On Friday the 24th October I went down to Pau to watch the 4 star dressage phase of the 3 day event. It was a perfect day, blue skies and sunny but not too hot. I got there at about 11am and was mildly surprised to see so few people. There were many free grandstand seats available but they were damp so as I had taken a fold up chair I opened that up and was able to sit right by the rails with a wonderful view of the arena. It was such a treat to see the immaculately turned out horses and their riders performing their dressage test. During the lunch break I wandered around the "village" looking at all the saddlery stalls and marvelling at the vast amount of equine gear available. I was quite grateful that I have no need to buy any of these products any more, it would have been so tempting! I sat at a table in the sun and had lunch, a foie gras sandwich and a glass of red wine, watching the world go by. For such a prestigious event there were not that many people there and it seemed to me that the majority of spectators were British. I then went round to the warm up area and spent a fascinating hour watching the top international horses and riders prepare their horses for their tests. Back at the ringside there were more people than in the morning but I was still able to set up my chair by the ringside. After a mornings viewing of the tests I was now able to anticipate which moves were coming next and to discern at some points when an error was made. The top score of the day went to Bettina Hoy, who was the eventual winner of the event. I didn't see her do her test as I was still watching at the warm up arena when she was in the arena but I did see her warming up. They all make it look so dreadfully simple!!