A slightly quieter month for Sam Penn

We seem to have very little to do event wise this month, especially in comparison to the last few weeks, but it is a welcome break before the madness that is always July when everything seems to be happening at once. So instead we are out pracising our showjumping. We went to South of England show, to which we took Boundalong, Tickeridge and Coevers Diamond Clover. Thursday was a nice quiet day, all jumped well in the Newcomers class. Flynn had the first fence down in the jump off, (although the rider was the one at fault!) Then Tigga had the last jump off fence, Muffin saved my reputation though by coming 7th out of a field of nearly 70. We were back early Friday morning after a night of very heavy rain which obligingly stopped just in time for our class to start. Tigga again just jumped the Newcomers class, and had a repeat of the previous day, jumping a lovely round and having the last jump off fence down, grrrr! Flynn was a little carried away having been allowed to go fast in the jump off the previous day, and carted me around the early part of the course, but after clouting fence 3 he then finished the round in a far more polite manner, he redeemed himself in the Foxhunter class however, only his second attempt at this height he jumped superbly, he had the last 2 fences down in the jump off but showed that he has ample scope to move on up a level. Muffin again jumped beautifully in the Newcomers, this time finishing 5th and then went on to have a very rare 4 faults in the Foxhunter, but as it is the first fault she has had in several months we will forgive her.

We then went to one of our few events this month, one I have not attended before at Berkshire College. I will certainly be going again as it was a really nice, friendly, well run event, and an ideal place for moving up a level. After his 2 days of showjumping Flynn was mush more amenable in his dressage test, although strong as ever, he was not short or tight through the neck as can be the case with him, and I was thus rather disapointed with his mark of 36, although the comment on his sheet of 'needed to work more forward into the contact' had me in stitches!! He added nothing to this jumping or cross country except for the 2 time faults I accrued by going too fast, (oops, slapped wrist) however we were not the only ones as the course seemed to ride exceptionally quick for some, but it dropped us down from 2nd to 5th place, I'm pleased in a way though, as it means he is ready to start thinking of moving up a level before too long.
Tigga also benefitted from 2 days jumping but in totally the opposite way, whereas Flynn calmed down, Tigga perked up and felt much more uphill in his dressage, to lead his section with 27. He also added nothing to this jumping, but again I had 1 too fast time fault, relegating us to 2nd place by 1/2 a penalty but as with Flynn I'm actually rather pleased as he is getting quicker and more switched on in this phase with every outing, this was the first time he has pulled me all the way to the finish.

Lite My Fire was the last to go of the day for us. I was a little disapointed with her mark of 37 for dressage, but she is starting to feel much lighter in the forehand and more grown up in the showjumping and the 4 faults she picked up were totally my fault for adding too many strides to the last. The cross country went very well until 2 from home when she took a dislike to a rolltop before the water and frustratingly our day ended here, so off for schooling for us.

Josh Thompson: Water babies, broken bones, making ground and the final countdown!

I have been very busy since my last blog; and it hasn’t all been plain sailing! My first event of the month was Auchinleck where Duncan was in the Novice and Shannah was in the Intermediate. Shannah did a nice test for him, he got a 42 but we were pleased with the way he went as he is never going to be a top scorer at Intermediate! He show jumped very well but had an annoying one down. However I was very happy as I thought there is room for improvement still. I was looking forward to a nice easy XC to get us into the swing of things. Oh no, it was huge! We were jumping some of the advanced fences and the little pony just loved it. He was giving me an awesome ride up to fence 12, a small house. I however got over excited and tried to cut into it too much. He left a leg and I fell off! I did however get back on, and we jumped a few more fences and he went really well until we had a stop at the corner three from home. Even though we had an R on your record he felt amazing, and we both felt confident at that level which is the main thing.

Duncan however was not on top form; again we had a disappointing dressage test after warming up well and a bit of a disaster in the showjumping including a stop. On the XC I was determined to ride him positively after naughty errors at Central Scotland. Over the first few fences he gave me a really good feel-he is really starting to mature. However, it was the water again that was to be our undoing. He had two very cheeky stops, and completely refused to go near the edge, luckily as horses were only running at one minute intervals we got a lead from the next horse. He then flew round very well; if only we hadn’t have had the water issue he would have had gone well.

Since then he have been having lessons with Ruth Edge. We started going to Ruth last year but for various reasons the lessons dwindled. However, she has worked wonders and after just three lessons we are a totally different partnership. We also took Duncan and my ‘grooms’ horse Midnight to Somerford Park XC schooling. It was India’s first time doing XC on the mare and her first event since Hutton in the Forest PN in 2007 with me! They both did superb. Duncan’s main aim was to crack the water and to get him off the leg. He was really good and jumping boldly at the end. He is a very clever horse and can try to avoid work however possible. However, recently he has really started to enjoy what he is doing.

The next event on the calendar was Floors Castle. Floors is one of my favourite events, it’s got a lovely setting and nice courses. We had dropped Duncan down to the BE100 for a confidence run. He had a 35 and a double clear. I couldn’t have been more pleased and he felt confident in all three phases. Sadly we were HC, but would have come third. Shannah did a slightly disappointing dressage to score in the mid 40’s. However worse was to come. In the show jumping warm up he was not on top form. He kept on ducking out at the upright, something which he never does. After jumping it a couple of times he pulled up lame. We had the vet to see him and he has cracked a bone in his knee. He should make a full recovery but this is a very frustrating recovery. He is on box rest for 6 weeks and should be brought back into work in late August.

My last event was Shelford Manor, for another BE100 run. Our dressage was average, slightly disappointing as I now know he can do much more. The less said about the showjumping the better, basically I need to walk my course and ride more forwards. Then he gave me the best XC ride I’ve had. Met each fence on a perfect stride and I think finally he is starting to fully mature. Could not have been happier with him! Over half-term I have been trying to crack the dressage and showjumping. His flat work really has come on leaps and bounds, and over the weekend I jumped him and he was insanely good; he really is a horse with masses of scope. I think we had a confidence crash together, and because of this he needs help. Although talented he is still quite immature, everyone keeps saying once we are on form there is no stopping us!

I am now counting down the days until I have finished school and am a free man! As of the 21st June I will be eventing and enjoying life, hopefully by August I will have stormed the A-levels too! Our next event is Hexham JRN at the weekend. We then have Hutton Novice, with the wonderful unpaid groom India making her BE debut in the BE80. Before I came back to school she had an awesome jumping lesson, and I fear my position as top rider on the yard is under threat! Bye for now!

Janice Pegler is out and about and in the placings!

Well it's been ages since I wrote a blog, mainly because we haven't been doing alot!

Serenity injured her hind extensor tendon last July at Cheltenham, it was only a bad bruise but took a while to get back to normal so we ended up missing out on the rest of last season, and due to finance and personal circumstances we haven't got going this season until now!

I took her cross-country schooling at Boomerang the week before last and she was very good, like she had never had a break, so we went off to Ascott Under Wychwood this weekend to do the BE 90. The weather held off for us but it was muggy, we warmed up for the dressage and she was going nicely, we went in and halfway through I had a big grin on my face. She was really good and did everything when asked and it just felt great, this was reflected in the score of 29.5!!!!

Off to showjumping, the warm up was rock hard so didn't do too much but she was pinging so we went in and jumped a lovely clear!

On to the cross-country and she was very excited - in fact so excited that the starter thought he may have to lead me in! She was leaping off the floor and generally being a pain but we finally got her into the box and off we went! All I can say is it was like she had never had a break. She was awesome and made it feel really easy. We ended with 4.8 time pens so was really pleased as I didn't push her and we finished in 7th place!

So all in all a great day out and I couldn't have asked for more for her first time in 11 months! The plan now is to do the BE90 at Stonar then go back up to BE100 after that.

Anna Bailey's update including ribbons at Borde Hill and animal jumping at Mattingley!

Sorry for the big gap since the last instalment, we have had loads going on!

Firstly l’ll go back to the end of April. We went to Nurstead to put the demons to bed and that is exactly what we did! Woo hoo! We scored a very good dressage mark of 31.5 and then clear show jumping so were in a good position going into the cross country. Nurstead is a strong Novice with lots of inviting big fences but also some very tricky lines. It was here Timmy’s lack of experience last year showed up. The first difficult fence was three offset logs on a very short distance which he popped through like a pro. The next question came at the steps, with an offset skinny before you drop down the massive steps running down hill and then two hedges on an angle at the bottom with one stride in between! Again no problems there either. Then came the dreaded corner…. He was amazing and flew over without even so much as a wobble and finished full of confidence. We did clock up a few time penalties through setting him up so were not in the ribbons but had a very successful day.

The next event was not going to be until Mattingly so I had planned to get some dressage and show jumping practice in…. oh if only I had!!! The four weeks in between events got quickly filled up with taking Cairo and Gringo out to parties so they could be sold. Cario picked up a handful of placings at Royal Leisure centre and Pyecombe show jumping. Gringo also made his combined training debut at Felbridge. He was so chilled out given it was so busy! He did a reasonable dressage test but the poor thing was struggling in the deep sand. Felbridge had recently put down a new surface but it really was not ready to use so by the time I went in it was like a beach! Needless to say, he coped well and then went on to jump perfectly so although not placed, he was a superstar!

Before I knew it, Mattingly had crept up on me and Timmy hadn’t been to a competition for four weeks…. Well Mattingly was the most exciting thing ever!!!! My dressage test was in the long arena as we were tackling our first Intermediate novice where you do an Intermediate test and show jumping and then Novice cross country. He was so excited before I went in, he was foaming! I think we managed to cobble together vague required movements but it was not our best test to score 44.

After a full bath after dressage… again the show jumping was very exciting, as he was leaping into the practice fences I did wonder if I should jump…. I sent Nina back to the lorry to get the Evening performance spray to try and chill him out. It worked a treat so I started to get some control back. Our showjumping round was a little rusty but no leaping so I was fairly happy with eight faults as they were incurred coming out of the double and the combination where he was just getting a little quick. Lots of grid work needed!

The cross country course at Mattingly is amazing. My third fence was a sculpture of a cat, then coming out of the first water you jump a polabear followed by a double of offset ducks later on in the course. It was a strong course but after such a good run at Nurstead I was confident he would be fine. I opted to take all the straight routes so to test him and he was awesome, he didn’t waiver at anything. Woo hoo – well worth the trip even if the other two phases were not quite up to scratch.

Last weekend I had a fairly local event at Borde Hill and was again competing in the Intermediate Novice. Again Borde Hill is beautiful and they have an amazing setting and cross country course. I was a little worried as the cross country ran very close to the dressage arenas but after lots of work that week I had a much better behaved pony to score 33.6. The showjumping was on a slope so although he was a little strong, I was pleased with just the one down. It was a two stride double and I hadn’t managed to walk the course so didn’t realise how short it was so had the rail down coming out. He was amazing cross country and I was even able to put my foot down a little giving us our first clear inside the time to finish in 3rd place!!!! I was very happy with him.

We don’t have any events planned in June but will take him to Felbridge combined training and also to jump the Golden Cross Eventers Challenge at the end of the month. The next stop is Eridge to have a good run around the Novice and then the CIC1* at Brightling.

I’ll let you know how that all goes…..
x

Welcoming Polly Tucker on to the Organic Horse Start Squad

Polly Tucker, young event rider, based in Bristol has been eventing since the age of 12. She has competed on ponies and now horses in BE up to open novice including JRN and Grass Roots Championships. Previously at National Level she was 2nd individual and anchorman for the Syston Pony Club Intermediate Event Team who were National Champions in 2007.

Polly has three horses currently in work: Blue Rangoon (16.3hh, 16yrs) a NZ TB an intermediate eventer who is back in work ready to compete at ON, Awesome (16hh, 18yrs) another TB horse from 'Down Under' who is an advanced horse on whom Polly is hoping for her first 1 star and intermediate ride and Lord Percy (16hh, 9yrs) a WBxTB who is working well at dressage to elementary level and who went to the Pony Club National Champions last year, he has already qualified for the Badminton Championships this year and has previously been evented to 1 star.

Polly rides regularly at Pony Club with all three horses and has been a team member for all three disciplines. Polly started off riding successfully in showing classes at regional and national level before moving to eventing and dressage. She is really looking forward to the up and coming season - hoping for a reason to purchase top hat and tails soon!

Why horses? "I have been surrounded by horses all my life and was born in a basket saddle!"
Biggest horsey bug bear? "Unfair and biased judging at competitions - it puts a downer on the day."
Worst horsey habit? "I am extremely protective of my horses and who rides them, I like to keep their routine the same."
If not horses what? "Some type of urban sports - wouldn't mind a go at dirt biking!"
What could you not live without? "My horses and sponsors - thanks so much."

Kerry Graw's latest blog, things are looking up!

Finally things seem to be improving with my run of bad luck recently. Biggles seems to be improving on a daily basis but we did have a little relapse of him going lame again when we started trot work but fingers crossed we are back on track. He is now looking fantastic after all his water treadmill sessions combined with work on the pessoa he's feeling rather well, Forest Farmacy box rest power has been a real help with him while he has been on walking exercise in hand, he is a lot less flighty and more relaxed. I was allowed to start ridden work yesterday and Biggles was on best behaviour for our exciting 10 minute walk!!! My vet is back out tomorrow to review what the next step is and hopefully he will be back out competing the back end of the summer, but I won't make any plans yet just in case ....

Ze is still out of action and has been on box rest followed by limited turnout, he is becoming a mystery as so far his bone scans, ultrasound and x rays have not shown anything up. He is still lame and dragging a toe behind in trot so we are treating it as a sacroilliac injury as we have narrowed it down to that area when blocking him from the stifle down showed no improvement. He is however a lot happier in himself which is good as I think his recovery will be a very long and slow process!!!

The good news... Picnic is going really well, we have progressed and achieved our aim for this year of jumping Newcomers, I am delighted and we can now work on improving at that height for the summer and hopefully be ready to enter some qualifiers. Our first newcomers class was at the North Somerset show and she jumped brilliantly only to brush the last pole but I was still thrilled seeings as it was our first attempt and I also think it may have been me prematurely thinking we'd gone clear before jumping the last fence! On Sunday we went to a Riding Club qualifier at Malvern and entered the 1.10 - 1.15m open and had great success with our team finishing 2nd! Picture of Picnic in action is attached. This weekend we are off out to try another Newcomers and 1.15m open, will keep you posted how we get on.

Busy times for Sam Penn at the moment

Well it seems summer has arrived and whilst everyone headed south to the beach, we went north to Brigstock with Tickeridge, Lite My Fire and Coevers Diamond Clover. We kicked off on Friday morning with Tigga in the BE100 Lycetts 5yo qualifier. His dressage was lovely gaining a mark of 27.5, but whether due to the heat or that the showjumping was a little small, his jumping was rather idle and he added 4 penalties. The xc was a really good test with plenty to see and jump, the water especially caused a lot of problems, so I was very pleased that he jumped a lovely clear with no time faults and despite his showjump down he still came out on top so has qualified for the Championships at Osberton in October. Also out on Friday was Flynn, he had the dressage phase of his first attempt at a CIC*. Considering the issues that we have had on the flat, I was very pleased with his test, he was rideable and behaved well for a mark of 56.1, to lie 21st overnight.

We returned early the next morning for the xc phase with Flynn, which he thought was a far more interesting way to start the day! He put in a storming round taking everything in his stride and adding just 0.4 time faults which helped to pull him up to 12th place going into showjumping. This part caused real trouble across the class, especially fence 3, a large parallel off a very tight turn by the collecting ring. Flynn was absolutely super and jumped his socks off for one of the few clear rounds and as the horses placed above us continued to hit poles we crept up the leader board to finish the day 5th.

Last to go for the weekend was Lulu, also having her first try at a step up in class, in a BE100 section. Having discovered at the very last moment that I had completely mis-judged the time, I nearly missed the dressage, having to canter across the lorry park and go straight into the ring with no warm up at all, however this actually seemed to suit Lulu very well as she had no chance to get uptight and stressed out as she tends to do, and we scored a very acceptable 30.5. Unfortunately we added 8 faults to this in the showjumping, but she was super across country coping well with several things she has not seen before, and only just finishing outside the ribbons.

Houghton Hall & Borde Hill
We have spent the last week in Norfolk at one of my favourite events, Houghton Hall. This is the 4th year I have attended and it' s great to see it growing into such a popular event. We took three ponies, Boundalong for the CCI**, Captain Christy for the CIC*** and Pusiden for the BYEH 4yo class. I really like to take the youngsters away to an event such as this right at the start of their career as they learn a huge amount in a short time and that going away like this is not a big deal. Sid was the first of our ponies to compete, on Thursday. Although we knew that his flatwork is not yet quite up to scratch, his jumping was super, gaing the second highest mark in the class (35/40). This was followed by a conformation mark of 12/15. This was good enough to earn him a place in the final 10 which then return into the ring to be judged on 'star quality'. He behaved eautifully, coping with the atmosphere of the main ring really well and being placed 4th by judge Nick Turner. After all the adding up was done we finished up 6th, so not high enough to qualify for the final, but nonetheless a reaally good result and an educational experience for him. Although we were not the only ones to wonder how the winner came out on top after refussing in the showjumping and ditching its rider twice......

Also on Thursday was Muffin's turn for dressage. We know that this is a work in progress and it will probably take most of this coming winter to really get things as I want them, however we are making progress and the first part of the test was much more relaxed, it did become more tense after the medium canter work and then the mistakes started to creep in, but she does now allow herself to be corrected in these without a temper tantrum so we are (slowly) getting there. We came out with a disapointing but deserved mark of 67.5.

Friday morning was Smurf's turn for dressage in the CIC***, a new class at Houghton this year. I was really pleased with our test, I felt it was the best feel that he has so far given me, although having since watched the video I can see where the judges marked us down however I was still disapointed with a mark of 61.7.

By Saturday morning it seemed that summer was over and the rain was returning, although we were fortunate enough to get the 3* showjumping out of the way before it did. Smurf really rose to the occasion, but he is such a crafty old sod I think he knew it was something a bit special, jumping a brilliant clear, round what was a very decent track. He then followed this with a lovely clear across country. We took a last minute detour through the double of brush corners at fennce 17 after I felt him jump skew-wiffed over the first part, and after the duck outs we had at Burnham Market and Withinton over similar fences I didnt quite trust him. Perhaps I was being unfair to him though as over the rest of the course he was a saint, including through the quarry where the (very) skinny barrel at the top of the steps was missing its flags. We added 16.4 time penalties to our mark of 61.7, finishing up in 15th place, only just outside of the prizes, perhaps without our detour through the corners we may have just got placed but I cannot complain I am thrilled with how it went, for my first 3* and Smurfs first double clear at this level in nearly 7years.

Saturday was also Muffins turn for xc, after a lot of early problems at fence 8 a skinny log after a double on the mound, the majority of people took the longer alternative. Being as how we had nothing to lose, being in 59th place after dressage, and as I trust her totally to go where directed I chose to take all the straight routes and Muffy didn't let me down. She jumped a fantastic round, coming home just 1 second over the optimum time of 9 minutes.

The trot up on Sunday morning was fortunately just a formality as Muffin was none the worse for her exertions, we then had a long wait until 3pm for our turn to jump, as by virtue of her super xc round we had pulled up from 59th to 25th place. The biggest problem faced by everyone trying to showjump was not getting over the fences but getting to them before they blew over, as the weather deteriorated throughout the day. Muffin finished the week off beautifully, and never even looked like touching a pole to finish up a credible 19th place, and even managed to get back into her stable before the thunderstorm hit! Once we get her flatwork really sorted I think she is gong to be a very special little lady.

And so we trundled the 4 1/2 hours home for a quick turnaround and back out the next morning for 8am dressage at Borde Hill.

Tickeridge was first to go and did a very nice dressage test for a mark of 26.5. A lack of being schooled for a week however caught us out in the showjumping when Tigga got a little argumentative and had an uncharacteristic 8 faults. A super clear xc, and being one of just 2 inside the optimum time in BE100 sec k, was his saving grace, and we finished up in second place.

Next to go wa Brockley Star, and I have to give full marks to his owner Vicky Whiteman for preparing him as I only ever meet him at events. Broccoli really is the most genuine, honest chracter and in only his second ever BE100 got a dressage mark of 27.5 followed by a double clear and the fastest xc time of the day, (almost too fast, oops) to be a deserving winner of sec j, it was third time lucky atfter being second in both of his previous outings.

Lite My Fire was next to go and again we approached the dressage after a minimal warm up. Although things didnt go quite as well as at Brigstock, it is definitely the right appproach for her and will work well in a 'normal' week when I am at home to prepare her. Lulu then followed with a lovely clear showjumping, over a course that caused huge numbers of faults, in fact she was one of just 3 clears in her entire section. After being told I was nearly too fast on Broccoli, I then eased up a little too much across country and although clear, picked up 0.8 time faults and so had to settle for 2nd place.

Last to go for the daywas Coevers Diamond Clover, having an easy Novice run after his CIC* outing last time. Again I knew his lack of preparation would tell on him as he is a character who really needs to be kept 'under the thumb', however he achieved a reasonable dressage mark of 34, but added 8 to this in the showjumping. He added nothing further to this across country however and finished up a very credible 8th place. So all ponies came home safe and all in the ribbons it could not have been a better ending to a lovely week.

We have got a quiet week now, our next event will be Berkshire College and we have got some showjumping to do at South of England and then Royal International.

Horse hunting and a new yard on the cards for Rose Equine this month

After a frantic month for Rose Equine last month, May was somewhat quieter on the buying and selling side- couldn't find anything worth buying ! We really shopped around, and those that seemed so promising on their adverts were a huge disappointment in reality! It just goes to show how many poor quality horses you have to sift through to find 'the one'. I went to one sale where many youngsters, particualarly the Welsh As and Ds, looked absolutely awful with shocking conformational faults that could only come about with random breeding. It made me realise how much I support breeding horses responsibly! Lets not ruin good breeds with ones like those.

On a brighter note, one sale did yield a fantastic find- a 14.2hh 3yo chestnut tobiano filly by Stetsen, Honeypot Sweet Pea. Was planning to break and sell her on, but once I got her home she looked even more impressive so will be retaining this one! She has just been backed and is walking around quietly, really excited about her future as an allround competition horse, so watch this space!

Penny had been jumping superbly this month, only to end it with casting a shoe over the bank holiday! Typical it should be when the farrier is on holiday! So she is temporarily off the scene until the farrier comes out as she struggles barefoot. Hopefully though he is coming out Wednesday, so am planning to take her cross country schooling to Pontispool sometime later in the week to get in some practice over some larger fences.

Now June has arrived we have a packed horse hunting schedule where I hope we will at last find something worth writing about! In the meantime, plenty to be getting on what with Honey to school on, Penny @ Pontispool and Merlin to gee up into doing any work at all ! :P Just wanted to say good job again for Clean Limbs- its worked a treat for him.

A really exciting development this month was the planning application for our new stables/arena had been submitted- so fingers crossed all goes through we may be looking at a brand new yard for Rose Equine come 2011!