Express Eventing International Cup. Stuart Buntine's blog

We have just finished all the new jumps for Cardiff. It has been quite a marathon to get a whole course built from scratch although I have yet to see the bank as this is being built elsewhere.

Fixing these to the ground has been a difficult operation as the pitch at Cardiff is all palletised so we are unable to use spirafix screws. There was a lot of discussion but we have now decided on a solution. All the jumps are built with a pipe inside them, which once filled will weigh between 800 and 1000kg. When in position we will fix a metal 'rake' like fixing on the side to stop them sliding. They will then become very solid.

It will mean that there is another job to be done on the Saturday evening, someone will have to go around filling all the pipes, however there is a good fire hose handy!!

The next job will be to paint them all. We have a final practice run on the 13th when Pierre will fly across to finalise the exact position. We will then grid reference the area so that on the Saturday evening it will be very easy to pin point the fence positions quickly.

I am off to the stadium for two days this week to discuss TV and logistics. We are very excited about the TV production, the feedback from Sport tel at Monte Carlo was good. We had someone out there selling the event to channels all around the world. It appears that we will have very good coverage. The aim will be to get coverage from London to Cape Town and Melbourne to Beijing!

Later in the week it will be logistic planning, a day meeting to pull together the plans for the day. It will then become very real as we will be into the last 30 days.

You need to get your tickets booked as this is going to be a really big day