Drum roll please ...... it's dressage day

Another 4am start as I am off to image the horses who are training this morning. The horses generally start training just before 6, especially when the predicted weather is as warm as it is today. A few more horses XC jump training today as well as using the gallops. The level of interest from the teams is still incredibly high and also from the FEI Stewards, who are all keen to understand how it all works. I have been asked a few times " Can you image me and tell me how hot I am" When I tactfully explain that its not really appropriate to do for humans etc I get asked "why?". Well the reason is, you would have to be naked for over an hour.... yup not appropriate for the Olympics at all.

So I took an image of one of the JRA Vets, Kazutaka Mukai (Kaz), who has been assisting me in the early morning shifts, as with a huge field of horses to work with, I would need to be Ollie the Octopus to get everyone done.

Off to the canteen for lunch and yet another Bento box, to be honest I'm craving a decent chicken salad, a bowl of pasta or a good old fashioned meat and two veg meal. The I am heading off to do the normal stable midday temperature, humidity and air quality checks. What I do love to see is how relaxed the horses and indeed some of the grooms are.

The evening competition session starts off warm, very warm and we image from the initial entry arena until entering bit check post competition. Horses on the whole are coping well,but it is so good to see the teams themselves actively seeking and requesting the information on how their horse is coping. It's been a very very long day and off to do the same tomorrow!