Celebrating the 50th anniversary of Eventing at the Werribee Equestrian Centre, making it the second oldest three-day event in the world (after Badminton), the call for the day was a beanie and a scarf, the sun managed to peek its head around a few grey clouds, but only for a short time.

But it was going to take more than wind, rain, sleet and the occasional threat of hail to dampen the enthusiasm of riders and spectators for the 50th Anniversary of the Werribee three day event.

There were the faces of the well known and new faces to be seen from the Malaysian and Indonesian teams and faces of tomorrow's legends. One face that all the crowd loves to see was Heath Ryan, bigger than life whose enthusiasm for what he does comes only second to his love for it.

Always the crowd pleaser, sadly Heath was having a bit of an off day with the elimination at fence 15 of Hoc's Streisand, and the decision to retire with Diablo Heart after a refusal at the Vet Search water combination. Heath was of particular interest to the Asian riders that were keen to see Heath in action and commented to me that they also think that he is larger than life, and someone to be reckoned with as a fellow competitor.

Fence 8 seemed to be one of the biggest problems of the day and seemed to seal the fate for many riders including like Will Enzinger and Hannah Newland.

Blair Richardson had a great ride, however seemed to forget about jump 5. This competition was also the final one for competitors to impress selectors with view to World Equestrian Games and Beijing. Many of the riders who were trying to make that special impression were doing it in hard conditions but with the crowd respect and support that was shown for every competitor were still able to give their best ride.

The course designer was Wayne Roycroft and the course was almost a series of wood sculptures, each one an individual work of art combined with an understanding of the sport and the horse.

Day three...Tired horses, riders, and spectators. The day after the night before with the showjumpers ball. It was pretty obvious that the show jumping phase was some riders weaknesses, as they rose up the ranks with the CX only to fall back down again with the show jumping.

The final day saw the grandstand full, with many people standing to get a peek at the riders going through the final phase of the competition. With the brisk cold at bay outside, people settled for a great day of show jumping in the indoor arena. There were many faces of past winners in the arena to make the 50th anniversary a very special one. Gillian Rolton was there as part of the ground jury as were Brian Ross and Barry Roycroft.

A very special presentation made to Malcolm Barnes who won the first Melbourne 3 Day event, in 1956 which was the year of the Melbourne Olympic Games. Malcolm also presented the trophy to Sonja Johnston from the West who won the CCI***.

Pictured left - last minute preparations!

Pictured below - Andry Prasety cuts a fine figure going cross country at Werribee with the dark skies behind!

Rebel Morrow - pictured left - earned her place on the short list for WEG this year.

Robert Palm - pictured below - and The Regulator took 3rd place in the CIC-W and looked good doing it!

Is there any greater accomplishment for a coach than to be beaten by his student? The good coaches tell us that is the aim of coaching quality students - and today Heath Ryan's student Emma Armstrong - pictured left walking the showjumping track with Heath Ryan - made the coach proud when she won the CIC-W riding Voortrekker.

Heath Ryan is the consummate coach and competitor - he is tough, talented and charismatic - and he never gives up! Pictured below - Heath Cross Country riding Flame.