Vittoria says, "I schooled Bug this morning and he feels pretty good now, I'm hopeful I'll even have his dressage back in shape by the 9th! I will be on very early as I will be the first team member."

I heard you got your first sight of the cross country today? "We did! After riding, I tore off my jods, threw on shorts (having forgotten to bring right colour of underwear-oops!) and shot off to catch the bus to Beas River for the official XC coursewalk. Luckily Sarah and I went to the wrong bus stop, missed the riders' shuttle but managed to gatecrash a subsequent workforce one which got there first as the riders bus got lost up a mountain, stuck in a village and knocked down a telegraph pole! Having later experienced the driver's jerky right foot all the way home I am not at all surprised!"

So how was it? "First, we got a tour of the facilities: indoor typhoon-proof "temporary " stables, overnight groom accomodation and the essential food and drink tent! We then 'swam' round a beautiful course. OK, exaggerating, squelched in 'on and off' pouring rain! The jumps are mouthwatering: dragonflies, bears, dragons, frogs! All carved wood but disappointing, as I fancied a more original challenge! Some testing enough combinations need determined accurate riding but nothing looked too impossible (hope I am not proved wrong!) The downside is that we twist round a hilly golf course with lots of pretty but twisted trees so that we actually never have more than 2 strides on a straight line and so it's rather like a bending race! We eventually clambered back on to the bus soaked, sticky and smelly (not just rain, hot rain!)."

You proably needed a less exciting afternoon - some shopping perhaps? "You guessed! Late lunch was followed by the aquisition of a jazzy new digital camera (on the belief it is cheaper here) YAY!! The sole purpose and ambition of my Hong Kong visit! Well, not quite..".

Was it back to work in the evening for you and Bug? "I rounded the day off with more schooling in the stadium - trying not to crash into a million eventers as it was the official familiarisation with the dressage ring, Olympic torch flame and huge screen showing pure dressage (to inspire or depress us?). Oh, and 2 steaks for supper as Roberto's was too rare for him (don't like waste)!"

The blog has been changed to an interview to comply with Olympic regulations

I hear Bug has bounced back into form? "I hacked him this morning and he seemed on great form, particularly as I trotted roung the mini XC where he was not at all convinced he shouldn't be jumping everything!"

How has the rest of your day been? "After a big team meeting with our team trainer Mel, Kristin (Joe Meyer's groom), Sam Albert and I all dashed off shopping! What a relief, I was starting to get withdrawal symptons! We took various trains before resorting to a taxi (very cheap here) to get us to Stanley Market on the south side of Hong Kong Island. I was glad to see more of the local scenery (except visibility was dreadful due to an approaching typhoon!) and do some souvenir and present shopping. Admittedly most of the shops have the same stuff but I love looking though all the colourful silk souvenirs!"

Did you ride Bug again? "We dashed back for me to ride again in the afternoon so Ellie the physio could watch him move and then treat him. She is generally very pleased so I will start schooling him a little more tomorrow. Sarah Bullen, my trainer arrived which was exciting and my evening continued with two suppers and amusing conversations with the Brazilian squad to practice my Portuguese!"

The blog has been changed to an interview to comply with Olympic regulations.