11th February 2012

Certainly the coldest morning this year -12 first thing and still -6 at 11 O'clock. We only managed to walk and trot this morning as the gallop was frozen. We had planned to go to Mary Hambro's but her gallop was still covered in snow as was Mark Rimell's. In the end I just accepted defeat and made the most of what we've got. Most gallops are frozen, Paul Webber has just told me that he had to take a lorry load to Wolverhampton.

I note that Milbourne St Andrew has now been postponed until next weekend. I did find the reports hard to believe as they were being posted on line. It must have been the only place south of Newcastle where they thought they could race. It is also interesting that they have managed to arrange that it takes place next weekend. All other hunts seem to be unable to find alternative dates. Makes me wonder how much others really want to rearrange!

The joys of Sky Plus allowed me to watch the England Italy match. The first half nearly put me to sleep until the final 2 minuets when it got lively, Italy scoring 2 tries within 2 minuets. The second half was much more interesting and once Ben Youngs was replaced at scrum half the English boys got their tails up and played much better.