How was your flight? "We flew overnight which worked quite well jetlag-wise (not that I am usually affected much with the silly hours I usually live by) reaching Amsterdam at 6.30am. The rest of the squad carried on to Aachen to wait for the other horses carrying on back to Italy, whereas Mel and I were going to spend the day in Amsterdam waiting for Bug's flight to get in at 4.30pm!" Some time to explore then? "Yes. After a quick morning recharge (sandwich and hot chocolate for me, cigarette and hot chocolate for Mel) we set off on one of our most amusing expeditions to go and investigate the so-called animal hotel where the KLM animal cargo is unloaded."
Sounds like it was a long walk! "It was but it was entertaining!! Pushing two trolleys loaded with a million suitcases we set off out of Schipol airport, past arrivals, past departures, down a slip road, round a roundabout, across a little park (pushing trolleys hard through the grass and trees with everything permanently falling off Mel's one) past the KLM catering cargo that pointed us on down the road to the animal cargo terminal!" So did you find the horses in the end? "We were given passes to get in but the office was most unfriendly saying no riders were allowed in to unload the horses so I said that was most unreasonable as I was collecting him! (Luckily Pedens the transporters later helped me out!)." Did you have to drag your bags all round Amsterdam? "Mel and I then went (still pushing trolleys) to find the nearest hotel to leave our bags for the day while we explored Amsterdam. The Hilton wouldn't accept my card for the day-room deposit so they suggested I speak to Mrs Rolfe from Pedens to ask if we could use her room, we felt a bit rude but she was so kind and helpful! We were so grateful!"
What did you get up to while you waited? "An amusing few hours in Amsterdam followed, the first road we picked to walk down was naturally the one devoted to hash, bongs and magic mushrooms! We took some amused photos and moved on exploring canals full of barges and bizzarre shops. We also passed a gay cinema and a scientology centre before ending up in a vintage shop where we had a hysterical time trying on the most ridiculous outfits ever!"
Lots of fun then! I hope you didn't forget about Bug! "Of course not!! The Hilton bus took us (with all our bags) back to the "Animal Hotel" - luckily we had kept our passes to get in! Stefano and Fabio were there having flown with our horses and luckily they told me Bug had flown very well this time!" But you weren't allowed in to see them? "Well I managed to smile enough at Tim Rolfe from Pedens for him to very kindly get me a special pass to go to see Bug in the flight containers still waiting to come out through customs. I sorted his feed, hay and water and took lots of surreptitious photos (not allowed in the airport!). He seemed on good form, just a little bored and was in a container with Tiziana Realini's horse from Switzerland." It must have been a relief to see he had travelled safely this time. "Absolutely."
It's quite an operation, flying horses? "Watching the containers getting wheeled about and unloaded was fascinating. Eventually I unloaded Bug, took him through the customs vet check and loaded him onto a lorry to the nearby stables (Horse Hotel Bozitch) where we would wait for the Swedish team to arrive on the 17th. Dag Albert was my only chance of a lift home to England! Bug rolled lots in the indoor and outdoor schools, but was rather depressed to find no paddocks! Mel and I then took an enourmous truck to go out for supper which required careful manouvering!"
The blog has been changed to an interview to comply with Olympic regulations