Ruby Grimshaw enjoys the Equestrian Eventing

I had a wonderful three days at the Olympic Equestrian Eventing at Greenwich Park with friend L. Travelling up there was surprisingly easy and by securing accommodation at a hotel nearby we just had to walk through the park every evening to get home.

“It was like going to the races and not getting a racecard”

The atmosphere was exuberant throughout, and the hordes of volunteers at the gates, each wearing a pink glove with huge pointy index finger, were all extremely helpful. The security searches were not arduous, although the ban on fluids did cause enormous queues at the few water fountains where we filled up our bottles. Later we were told that the water from the toilet taps was drinkable but I never got that desperate. The only other complaint was the absence of any sheets giving the running order and times of the competitors. It was like going to the races and not getting a race card.

The GB team were wonderful. Particularly admirable on day two was the way Tina Cook, our local celebrity eventer from Rustington, performed a superb dressage test during a threatening thunderstorm and drenching rain. A plastic sheet on the judge’s box came loose in the wind and we all held our breath but Miner’s Frolic – on whom she won individual and team bronze in Beijing – did not flick an ear. Zara Phillips was a big attraction and with her mother and grandfather watching there must have been enormous pressure on her. But her horse kept his cool and they did very well. Our seats were only a few away from where a smiling Zara was interviewed by the press afterwards.

On day three 50,000 people filled the park and we were pleased that at last lists showing the running order of the cross country riders appeared. We had walked the course the day before so we knew which jumps we wanted to be at in order to watch the five members of the GB team. It was a more constricted and less visible course than Burghley or Badminton and the jumps looks less formidable but were extremely innovative and decorative. The lake was like a picture from Wind In The Willows while other jumps were based on planets, cricket matches and woodland scenes. I was not surprised to hear that the course builder was a woman.

Well done Eventing Team in winning silver for Great Britain!