The event was more about taking part than competing and most of the riders were here to see the park for the first time and enjoy themselves.  The horses seemed to approve as well. 

The fences were all quite modest (although you wouldn't see me trying to take a horse over them) which made them jumpable for a lot of the riders. 

There is a creek that runs though the park where they are spending a lot of time and effort making trails and jumps along the route of the creek.  It really is very beautiful.  

A lot of the riders went around the park in groups which made it a very social occasion. 

This was one of the jumps where a lot of the more inexperienced riders went around. It was higher than most of the jumps as well as being on a slight incline.  

One of the features of the Park will be that it is a multi-discipline venue.  There will be Event Courses, Rings for Show Jumping and dressage.  Apparently that is quite rare where the norm is for different places to specialize in different disciplines. 

It was a dismal day, very grey and dark.  Still it made for some dramatic pictures as well as saturated colours.   

The Horse park will eventually, when it's completed be built on 250 acres of land just outside Thornbury, Ontario.  The design team has been asked to try and keep everything as natural as possible, working with the environment in a sympathetic way.  So you come across jumps that are made from derelict barns and placed in a way that looks as if they could have always been there.

Hugh Morshead explains some of the basic principals of building event jumps.  He made it sound very simple and was modest about his work.  I for one do not believe for a moment it is as easy as he would have people believe.  Hugh was a steeple race jockey so knows a thing or two about jumps.  He is leading the team as the courses are developed.