A very successful day - around 200 people turned up and the weather was perfect. The horses all behaved themselves and everyone commented on how well they looked. It was a very friendly party atmosphere with the last people leaving at nine o'clock. Jackie Oliver was there taking photos .The beef rolls were as delicious as ever and the ice cream van was a great hit.
Today we had a surprise visit from Abi and Walter from Ireland. Abi used to live in England, but then met and married a lovely Irish chap who is an absolute anorak when it comes to National Hunt breeding and he was pig sick at missing our open day. He looked at all our horses and their breeding and thought that we were charging far too little, particularly for a couple of the really well bred ones. Apparently the market in Ireland is red hot now and a decent horse is now making a lot of money. Liz and Jo also popped around to top up on last nights consumption and we had a very pleasant time sitting in the sun watching the ducks and partaking of the odd glass or two. Feeling rather jaded later on in the afternoon I went for a long swim in the river, as I set off I heard a splash and there was little Spud following me. He loves swimming and would happily have stayed in for the whole swim but I was worried he would get tired and drown so I had to park him back on dry land. It has been the most wonderful summer weather wise and it looks as though we have got a lovely week ahead. Now we have got our open day out of the way we are now preparing for Burghley as we have a stand there. No peace for the wicked....!