Greetings from Hong Kong!

Friday night was our Welcoming Dinner which was held at the Beas River Country Club's Clubhouse. It was a formal dinner and we were randomly assigned seats to help us break out of our familiar teams and mix, mingle and meet other team members, coaches and chaperons (also called Team Managers).

I was sitting at the table with FEI bigwigs, a steward of the Hong Kong Jockey Club, the NZ coach, our FEI dressage judge, and the president of the HK Pony Club. It was interesting to meet horse people from all over the globe. We had a lovely and very diverse buffet- one of the hors d'oevres options were huge snails still in their shell. I regret to inform you that I passed on that option! The desserts were the best part of the buffet- they had all sorts of custards, creme brulees and puddings. Very tasty!

We heard speeches from the organizers and president of the HKPC and were treated to a slide show of things to expect over the next two weeks. I am happy to report that our team looked classy and well put together. Elizabeth & Sara wore knee length white pencil skirts, a red shirt and fitted navy blazers on top. They would have made Ralph Lauren proud! The boys looked quite handsome in their white shirts, khakis, navy blazers and their American flag ties. Our team got many compliments on their appearance and in my very un-biased opinion were the best dressed!

Saturday was the most fun yet. We went on a "junk trip" in the South China Sea. We boated out an hour away from the island and dropped anchor in a beautiful cove. We were able to swim, dive from the boat, and play on the beaches. Most of the PC'ers dove off of the top floor of the boat- what adrenaline junkies! The water was beautiful- emerald and clear and very calm. There must have been about 40 other "junks" near us. It reminded me of boating on Lake Hartwell, except this was the tropical version and our neighbors were singing Chinese karaoke! It seems like the kids really got to know eachother on the trip.



We leave for China shortly. It will be an hour and a half bus ride. When we get to Camelot we get to meet the horses our team will be riding. The US team drew group "E" horses. Here's hoping that group E stands for "exceptional" in dressage!

Janna

The Eagle Has Landed

Well we survived our 16 hour flight and arrived in Hong Kong around 7:00 p.m. There was a typhoon heading this way but luckily we avoided it! The first night was pretty uneventful because by the time we made it to the city it was dark so we just came straight to the place where we are staying. We are staying at the Beas River Country Club. It is pretty incredible. With mountains on one side and high rises on the other its a pretty neat place to stay. The only bad part is how wet and humid it is here.

We checked out three different equestrian centers today. They are so unique from farms at home it was a really great experience. The barns are double deckers, and every horse that comes has to be imported from another country (none are bred here) and its a limited amount that can come. No one owns their own horse in Hong Kong, or at least it is very rare. All of the horses, except for a few, are owned by the Hong Kong Jockey Club and then leased by their riders. We have been talking to the Hong Kong pony clubbers and have learned so much from them and became very good friends. We also got to see and pet one of the most famous race horses in all of Hong Kong!

We actually got to go swimming this morning and have become really good friends with all the teams! Its so interesting to hear all their stories about their hometowns and how different it is from us. But they were all like us in the sense that none of us could turn down the slides in the pool, like little kids! Tonight is the Welcoming Dinner so we are looking forward to getting dressed up for that!

Seeing all these horses today made us so anxious to ride... one day closer! More posts and pictures coming soon! The Blog is blocked from the place we are staying so we are trying our best to give updates.

-Sara :)

This is really happening!

So the team met up in New Jersey for a couple of days for some practice and “team-building” activities. First let me just say that I take back everything bad I’ve ever said about New Jersey. Apparently the “stereotypes’” really do exist, but I have yet to see them. Everyone up here has been so overwhelmingly nice and accommodating. I want to give a special thanks to Gus’s family and pony club for all their support! Aside from all the great people we’ve met, the farms we have visited have been incredible. It really is horse heaven up here.

On our first full day we trailered the horses over to Clover Hill Farm for some jumping practice. The practice went well (minus my one premature dismount from Timmy, but that’s all behind us now because we are on to only having good luck!), and all of Gus’s ponies were fabulous. Thank you to the Torsilieris for sharing your horses with us! Also, Clover Hill is an amazing farm.We were so lucky to have the opportunity to practice at such a first-rate facility. Thank you Melinda (my nother-mother for the week!) and the Hartmans for sharing your beautiful farm with us.

Today, our second day, we got up early for some dressage practice over at Briland Farm on the same ponies as yesterday and then took a nice (eventful) hack down the river.

After dressage we headed over to Princeton for some bike tours. This has definitely been a major highlight of the trip for me so far! Princeton is a beautiful town and the campus is amazing. After riding bikes around campus for a while we parked the bikes in town and did a bit of shopping. Also, I can’t leave out the best part of our bike ride… THE TANDEM BIKE! At first this thing was seriously freaking scary, but once we realized it was best to just have one of the guys pilot the bike and the girls hang on for the ride, things went much smoother. In the end everyone got to take it for a spin.

We came back from Princeton to have a wonderful dinner at the Torsilieris’ house (burgers, hot dogs, fresh corn, salad, and homemade cookies), along with some badminton and serious Marco-Polo action in the pool. Yes, pony club has its way of bringing out the kid in us all.

So, tomorrow we are getting up early to run some errands and then it’s off to the airport at 11:30 a.m. so we can fly out at 3:30 for Hong Kong. I can’t believe this is really happening. Just praying right now that we all survive the 16-hour flight.

P.S. -- Check out the bottom for some pictures!

See you all on the other side,

Elizabeth

Beautiful New Jersey country side.

America really is the best country in the world!

International translator? ...Check!

The chapel at Princeton.

Princeton campus.

More campus.

Tandem bike!

Again.

...and again.

Go Alicia!

Group picture under Princeton arches.

Introduction

So, after several requests, we have decided to start a blog where we can share our upcoming adventures with friends, family and supporters back in the States.

For those of you who don’t know, we are the United States Pony Clubs’ team representing the U.S. in the Inter-Pacific exchange this summer in Hong Kong and China.

The team is as follows:

August Torsilieri (H-A), New Jersey Region

Sara DePape (B), Carolina Region

Derek Alvey (B), Capital Region

Elizabeth Fite (H-A), South Region

Coach: Janna Bankston Ritacco

Chaperone: Alicia Henderson

Below is a bit of information on the exchange taken from the USPC (http://www.ponyclub.org) website:

The Inter-Pacific Exchange first began in Australia in 1964. Great Britain, the United States, Canada and New Zealand were originally part of the exchange, followed by Hong Kong and Japan. The exchange was conceived for the older members of Pony Club to have an educational, cultural, bilingual and competitive experience. Each team consists of four members, a coach and a chaperone.

Team members are selected according to the following criteria:

- Be a B level rating or above

- Older than seventeen years of age.

- The riders will be expected to have had experience riding and competing on borrowed horses.

- Having competed at the Training Level of Eventing.

- Jumped 3'6" in Show Jumping.

- Have top Horse Management skills.

- Plus all recommendations must be excellent for selection.

Hopefully this information will help everyone back home to better understand what we are doing. We will try to post every day of our trip so stay tuned for updates.

We hope you enjoy our blog and thank you for your support!

Our itinerary for the trip is as follows:

- Leave for Hong Kong from Newark, N.J. (3:30 p.m., July 21)

- Welcome Dinner in Hong Kong (7:30 p.m., July 23)

- Sightseeing in Hong Kong (July 24)

- Travel to China (July 25)

- Dressage Competition (July 28)

- Kangaroo Cup (July 30)

- Nations Cup Show Jumping Competition (Aug. 3)

- Return to Hong Kong (Aug. 4)

- Sightseeing in Hong Kong (Aug. 5)

- Farewell Dinner (Aug. 5)