That's what I think of the following show jumping teams who objected to the inclusion on the British team of a 53 year old man:
Netherlands,
Switzerland,

U.S.A,

Canada,

Australia,

Norway,

Sweden.

Obviously, the Brit in question must have commited some henious crime for those 7 to object so strongly, taking their protest the the Equestrian governing body, the FEI, you say.

Well, no. The 53 year old is John Whitaker. His crime? His horse, Peppermill, was sidelined from the first day of the team competition with a stiff back. The horse was passed fit for the second day and the competition officials agreed to the British team request for John to compete. Strangely enough, the German team, Britian's closest rivals, had absolutely no problem with this. But the 7 teams above did. They lodged a protest, which was upheld.

Congratulations on your Gold medal U.S.A. Congratulations for getting Silver, Canada. Congratulations to Norway on your Bronze medal. But, remember, in the minds of a lot of showjumping fans, this one included, your achievements will be forever tainted with an asterisk - John Whitaker did not start for Britain. Where was the fairness that the Olympics is supposed to be about in your protest? Britain reduced to 3 riders, when their fourth was fit and his horse was fit, but deemed inelligible on your say so. Reduced to 3 riders, albeit 3 very good riders, you left Britain with no chance of a medal, having to count all 3 scores, no chance to drop their worst score, without the world's best team rider, John Whitaker to fall back on. Was that fair? The answer is NO. But why should that matter to you? You have your medals and your riders can look forwards to the individual competition without fear of being beaten by one of the World's most experienced championship riders.

You were so brave to make that stand against John Whitaker weren't you?

Actually, your actions reek of cowardice. I for one, don't think of you as brave any more. I used to marvel at how good you were, not any more. Every one of you that protested aginst John's inclusion in the British team for the second day of competition are cowards. I don't respect you or think you are great any more.

To Germany. The most sincere congratulations for overcoming a horrendous first day score of 20 faults to finish joint fifth. I hope that your riders can put their disappointment at not winning a team medal behind them and secure at least one individual medal.

And finally, to our brave, brilliant British riders. I can understand your disappointment at finishing seventh in the team competition. Forget what those cowards did to our chances, and set about proving to them that, the team result was wrong and that Britain was truely the best showjumping team at the Olympics. Then, look to London 2012. With good luck, those 4 horses that started our medals dreams in Beijing will still be competing and winning, and we can put the record straight, winning the team gold.

To those cowards, I hope you enjoy your ill-deserved sucess, it won't last. Whitaker and Peppermill have a point to prove and you still all have to face them again this year. I won't wish you luck when that time comes.

If you have read her blog, you will know that on Friday night, Tess wrote her last ever post. Unfortunately, she gave up her fight with the cancer and chose to join her big sister, Tina and all the other dearly loved pets who are no longer with us at the Rainbow Bridge. I have spent a couple of days and many tears over the following video of a tribute to both Tess and Tina. Unfortunately, we don't have many pictures of Tina, so she only appears twice.

Run free darlings, till we meet again.

For those of you who enjoyed Tess's weekly posts: Tess has now moved!
Tess now has her own account (that I was coerced into making) and her own blog. The link is: http://tess-rescue.blog.co.uk
Tess is also on facebook for those of you who would like to see more of her.

Eye iz styll pwoowly sick dis week. Mummi tuk mi to de vetinhairywuns TWYSS, in wun week! De vetinhairywun wus vewy shneaky. Shi got mi mummi two old mi ead an ve vetinhairywun nurse two old mi back legs an den shi shnuk up behynd mi an shtuk a vemometa up mi bum! Dis tyme eye wus nott avin dat, bwt ve vetinhairywun wus nott intwested in mitempiratyoor dis tyme.
Der as biin sum gud fwon ve vetinhairywun - eye iz noe shleepin in ve livin woom an nott ve kitchin. Eye iz lykin dis noo rrangement, Ve noo bed eye has two shleep in iz awl comfy lyk an mi mummi as hir musik on awl nice lyk an soe eye iz gowin rite two shleep.
Dat iz mi noos fow dis week.
Tess
Pee ess: Mi mummi sez eye myte be gowin two dis playce cawled "shell Island" Eye dusn't noe wot dis island is, bwt it as a beach. an eye iz lykin beaches.

Dis week eye iz pwowly sick. Mummi sez eye iz avin dis kennul coff wot is gowin rownd. Sew eye iz tipin mi post fwom mi pwowly sick bed awl nyse an cumfy-lyk apawt fwom de coffin.
Der as bin tawlk in de famwi dis week ov mummi gowin to Lankasta two wowrk an mebe moovin owt ov ve home, bwt eye iz tawkt hir owt ov dat becuz den shi iznt abubble two tayk mi playces lyke de beach at Sowthpowrt wot wuz relli relli gweat. Awl wet an muddi an sandi. Sew, I has tawkt mummi owt ov moovin owt.
Dat iz mi noos fow dis week.
Tess.

Now that I've regained control of the keyboard from Tess, who has been very busy catching up with all her friends from "Heksitin Noos" on Dog Pages, and writing her first ever blog post, we can return to some normality. Well, normal for me.
So, Been to Aachen, which was better this time round that the WEG in 2006, despite the fact I had to pay out 125 euros for a new pair of sandals at a stall at the show because the heel had snapped off the old pair while I was wandering over to watch the 4-in hand dressage scoffing a crepe mit zucker.
Following on from the Aachen exploits, on the Friday, I had a wander down to Bruhl to have a nosey at Phantasialand.
What a place! This theme park beats all others I have been to (admittedly not many, but hoping to rectify that). Infusion now seems very tame, the Big One even more obsolete, and The Sewer Rat at Lightwater Valley was much better before they turned the lights on.
My top 3 thrill rides now reads:
1. Black Mamba:- adrenaline rush, disorientation, could kill if ridden more than 7 times in one day, sooner if you loose your nerve.
2. Temple of the Night Hawk:- Pitch Black, lucky if you can see your hand in front of your face never mind the person in front, if at front, no chance of seeing drops and rises and thus pre-warning everyone else by screaming like a baby. (I don't scream - I laugh like a lunatic)
3. Toss up between Avalanche and Infusion - My first inverted rollercoaster will always hold fond memories, but Avalanche will always make me smile.
I know that making me smile isn't exactly what adrenaline-junkies look for in a ride, but occasionally we need to step off the pace for a couple of minutes or so and catch our breath. Admittedly, we normally do that waiting in the queue for the next white knuckle ride, but we all have our limits I suppose, and for me, if I've paid £26 for a wristband, I want to go on as many different rides as possible to make sure I get my money's worth. Last Friday I wasn't sure if I had lost my nerve after having departed Black Mamba for the second time with my stomach not on polite speaking terms with the rest of my body. I thought I had appeased my stomach by going on 2 very quiet ride: Waltzertraum and gondola. I then decided it was time to try out Temple of the Night Hawk. I remembered when there were 40 people behind me that it was something along the lines of The Sewer Rat a indoor rollercoaster without lights. The only thing is - Temple of the Night Hawk is miles better. Following on from the Space Invader accident, from what I know, all UK indoor unlit Coasters now have sublighting at the least. Totally destroys the experience. Luckily, Phantasialand haven't done this. Anyway, after straying from the point, it seems that my stomach was extremely offended by this blatent bit of treachery by my body and threatened to deposit it's non-existant contents on the ground. I finally got it back on side with a bit of help from a cheeseburger, fries, diet coke, vanilla milkshake and a candyfloss. Didn't do too much good. By the time I arrived back at the hotel, it was threatening me again, due to a bumpy tram ride. this time I appeased it with 2 and a bit pork escalopes, 5 croquette potatoes and 2 scoops of ice cream.
So, you see, back to normality.
Alright, I'll hand full control to Tess. She makes more sense.

Ewwo awl!
Eye am Tess and eye am takin ovva dis blog thing fwom mi mummi cos eye wantz two sai wot lyff iz lyke fwom mi point ov view. So mi mummi sez eye can tipe a post wonss a week as lowng as eye am twuffull abowt wot appens.
Sew, dis year sew fawr eye has bin towld dat eye iz avin dis cancer thing witsh means lots of extra tweets fwom mi mummi an gwannie an gwandad. Gwandad iz pwowliee he has had dis thing called a stroke wot iz sewious akkordin two mi mummi cos shi an gwan won't let mi worwlk wiv him cos eye pulls too mutch on da lead wen eye iz owt.
We has had prwoblems wiv ower nexty-dur nayburs dat gwan sez wuz da cause ov gwandad's strokes  Mummi izn't konvinsded tho, but eye finks gwan iz rite cos dey was always bein norty showtin an scweemin dai an nite. Dey has gone now, but mummi sez dat they wiwl pwobabubbly kome bak sum tyme.
Mummi buyed mi a noo kolla wot iz pink wiv kristal things in it. Shi sez it iz too big for mi tho sew eye haf two wear mi owld wun wot iz black wiv kristal things. Eye finks da black wun is koola dan da pink wun. Eye fink Mi Mummi finks dat too cos shi didn't get annuver noo wun for mi. Eye fink dat Mummi doesn't lyk pink relli.

Mi Mummi went on ollidayz to Chermany last week for dis horsey thing called Aachen. Shi sez dat shi iz goin agen next yer cos is wus relli relli gud. Shi sed dat sumwon called Izabel Verth wun da Gwan Pwee (eye fwout mi gwan wud win a gwan pwee) Shi woz sain sum fin abowt de Bwitish Teem in a nations cup bein fird to Chermany woteva dat meens. Befowe shi went away mi mummi took mi two a pet pawlow ware eye woz barthded and clipped Eye iz now lukin lyk aye poopie fokshund. Shi an gwandad tuk mi two a sho de next dai an peeple callded mi a poopie sew da clip thing mus be gud. Mummi woz relli pleezded wiv it an sez that eye mite gow two de kennels dey haf der.
Dat iz mi noos fow dis week.

From Dogpages Forum (of which I am a member):

In 2005, Dolly Mixture, a microchipped Jack Russell Terrier disappeared without a trace. Her owner, Mrs Candy King searched for her loyal companion, and soon learnt of the inadequacies within the microchipping system.

THERE IS NO LEGAL REQUIREMENT TO ROUTINELY SCAN PETS FOR MICROCHIPS

Candy was determined to do something about this loop-hole in the much promoted microchipping system. Supported by - Not a charity. No businesses or companies that promote or advertise shock collars please. -, Dolly's Directive was launched.

The directive requests routine and compulsory scanning of all dogs, new and existing, by all organisations that come into contact with dogs such as vets, police, stray dog kennels, re-homing centres and any other animal welfare charities.

If you have microchipped pets - this affects you!

WHAT CAN YOU DO TO HELP?

Show your support to this directive, it will only take a few minutes of your time, complete the online petition today.

http://petitions.pm.gov.uk/dollysdirective/

This petition closes on 11th July 2008 - make sure your voice is heard.

Thank You!

I have signed the petition, but we need more people to sign.
Think, if your pet went missing, how would you feel knowing that, despite it being microchipped, there is no guarantee that any vet, rescue agency or even the police would scan your pet if handed in, to find out if it was chipped, and thus reunite you much sooner?

At some point I'm going to be putting all the pics into a slide show vid, but in the meantime, here are a few pics of the litte angel(?) the day she was hoping to go to a dog show and didn't get to go:

"Look, I'm Pooch Spice"

She's at a show on Sunday, to make up for the disappointment of missing her first one. Missing 6 teeth, maybe, cancaer of the mouth, but still gorgeous and lovin' life

You know you want to.

Go on, give the nice kitty a hug.