Spruce Meadows is an equestrian facility in Calgary, built by the Southern Family and opened in 1976. The show jumping complex comprises of over 360 acres and is about 5 minutes drive from where we live. Dispite this though we hadn't yet had the chance to visit and were really excited.
This weekend Spruce Meadows played host to to the National, the first event of the summer series. The event showcases some of the best show jumping athletes and horses from throughout the Americas. The 'National' features the Spruce Meadows Canadian Show Jumping Championship with almost $1,000,000 in prize money.
We we lucky enough to be invited by our Neighbours to spend the afternoon, taking in the sights, watching the entertainment and browsing the exhibits. They had been given free tickets, and knowing that Nige and I are feeling somewhat caged at the moment, (what with not working and trying to spend as little money as possible), they wanted to make the most of the amazing weather and give us an excuse to leave the house.
Although we had driven past many times, but it really doesn't give you a true picture of just how vast the show grounds are. There are a number of arenas and in one of them we were treated to the RCMP Musical Ride display.
Before the main show jumping event began, spectators were given the opportunity to walk around the course and see all the jump, an opportunity not to be missed!
We weren't able to stay the entire afternoon as we had to be home for an important 'Skype' appointment, but after a few hours in the sun we were both rather pink (even though we had sun cream on) so we were glad to get out on the deck and under the shade of our parasol. As if our day couldn't get any better, for dinner I cooked a beef roast dinner, complete with yorkshire puddings. Now just to ensure that we incorporated a bit of Canadian culture to our roast, we have perfected the technique of cooking roast potatoes outside on the BBQ!
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