Work Perks

J's job can be incredibly demanding at times, but there are some perks. For instance, some of the firm's vendors like to take him on various outings, and he always insists on bringing me along. I'm definitely not complaining!

We got tickets this summer to go to the Longines Global Champions Tour, which is a horse -jumping competition. I'm not quite sure why the camel was there.



We got there during a lull in the action, so we spent some timing shopping the various tents. I'm guessing the people who go to these kinds of events are a bit more posh than I am, as Harrods had a tent along with a bunch of other shops for the toffs in our midst. I picked up a fleece jacket, which fit perfectly for once - I guess I should shop in jockey stores from now on!

Anyway, it was a bit windier than we anticipated, and I ended up bundling up while we watched the horses leap about. Everyone would hold their breath when the horse would launch into a jump, and there would be a collective sigh if the horse touched the hurdle. It was almost comical how in unison everyone was!



We had some awesome seats, and the horses were literally just a few feet away from us.



After a while, J grew a bit bored, and I couldn't help laughing when he asked, "Is this it?" I was freezing cold, so we ended up going home a bit earlier than anticipated, but it was a fun day.

Another fun activity that we got invited to was golfing. We had gone the previous year, and I guess it was time for our annual lesson. We got picked up and driven down to the London Golf Club, which is down in Kent.



It's absolutely beautiful there, and the weather couldn't have been more perfect! We decided to grab some lunch first, and we sat down to enjoy the view of the early morning golfers finishing up their games.





I gobbled down some fish and chips, then we all headed over to our lesson with the golf pro. We remembered a few things from our previous lesson, but it was embarrassing how bad we were when he asked us to take a few practice shots at the driving range. J and I spent a good hour swatting at balls and watching them kind of just roll away. The driving range turned out to be pretty hard work, and I was working up a sweat by the time we moved over to the putting course.



The sad thing is that I'm even worse at putting! I'm guessing I'll may be passable after next year's lesson. I'm guessing at a rate of a lesson a year, I might be able to play with my dad after twenty years or so...

Horsing Around at Hyde Park Stables

I never asked my parents to buy me a pony. But then again, I grew up in LA and I don't think horses are allowed on Wilshire Boulevard. Asking for a horse wouldn't have made much sense back then so I made do with my hamsters.

Since I've moved to London, I see horses everywhere. The cops ride them around, and I frequently heard the clip-clopping of hooves down Chancery Lane outside of my old office. All of a sudden, horses are an option, and I decided that learning to ride would be my kind of fun.

Seeing as how I've never ridden one before, I decided a taster may be in order and I signed up for an hour-long ride with Hyde Park Stables.



Silly me, I showed up an hour before my ride was to begin, so I walked around Hyde Park for a bit. The weather had definitely cooled down quite a bit, and the park was deserted.







No one swimming in the Diana Memorial this time around.



Anyway, I returned to the stables, and they fitted me with the proper boots and a riding hat while I waited for my horse. I should mention that I was probably the only grown-up there - I was surrounded by eight year-old girls smartly dressed in jodhpurs and chaps. There was quite the variety of horses - I had my fingers crossed for a mid-sized one if not a pony.



And then they brought out Monty. He wasn't huge or anything, but I still needed a mounting block and a big hop to get in the saddle. But not before he let out a bucket of pee all over the cobblestones. Nice.

Once I was up there, I became super aware of the fact that there was nothing to catch me if I fell. And it felt pretty precarious perched up there, but I quickly got used to it and riding at a walk was pretty easy once they had my stirrups adjusted and I figured out how to hold the reins properly.

Cameras aren't allowed while riding, so you have to take my word that it was pretty sweet. I rode around Hyde Park with an instructor, who held my horse on a line, and we were followed by another instructor who was riding a spooky pony. And by spooky pony, I mean that he was scared of everything. He had a major freak out when he saw two ladies rolling luggage along and we had to avoid a big orange fence, but other than that, the ride was pretty mellow.

A lot of the ride was at a walk, but my instructor was keen on trotting so trot we did. I was told to hold on to the saddle for dear life and stand up and down with the rhythm of the horse as it trotted along. Apparently, this is the English style of riding, and it's a lot harder than it looks but I managed to nail it after the first failed attempt. Two days later, and my forearms still feel like noodles from grasping the saddle so as not to fall to my death.

As fun as it was, there wasn't much, if any, instruction during the ride, and I definitely want to learn properly. I've done some looking around, and it looks like there's a stables down in Wimbledon that's more like a proper school and a bit cheaper. Their weight restrictions also aren't quite so strict as to limit the riders to children or munchkin-sized adults.

I do hope their horses are a bit smaller...