What a lovely weekend it has been, gorgeous weather and a trip to one of the most picturesque events in the calender, Barbury Castle in Wiltshire. Set in a natural bowl in the heart of the Downs, it is the perfect venue for such an event, with the entire xc course viewable from a seat beside the showjumping arena. The courses themselves were also super, a lovely old-fashioned galloping course with big bold fences and nothing too trappy.
We took 707 for his first outing in quite some time as he has not been at his sparkling best so far this year, but he seems to be back to his normal slightly scatty self and put in fantastic performance in the RoR (Retraining of Racehorses) Championship. His dressage was as expected, a little on the tense side but acceptable, simple changes on the centre line are a movement that leaves us nowhere to hide!! but 44.1 left us in about 10th place. He then show jumped clear and set out xc over a course that could have been tailor made to suit him. The format for this class was an Intermediate -Novice, which after his break suited him really well, and he felt fabulous, totally back to himself, and posting the fastest time across country all day incurring 1.2 too fast penalties (oops) and finishing up in 6th place. The top 10 in this competition were invited back to showjump again the following day in the main arena for a first prize of £1500. Again Brooke jumped a lovely clear which moved us up into 5th place. After a mounted prize giving the 10 ex racehorses thought the lap of honor was marvellous fun and many of us took several circuits to pull up!
The main event of the weekend was the CIC3* competition, for which we took Captain Christy. With almost 130 competitors in this class, dressage took most of 3 days, our turn came on Friday morning. As always we got marked down for a rather flat canter and generally not being WOW enough, but apart from a stumble at C (unfortunately right in front of the judge!) I was quite pleased with the test, and it was lovely to read a little comment at the bottom of Angela Tuckers' sheet (judge at B), saying "He looks amazing". We then had to wait until Sunday for our jumping, although we had Brookes' class to keep us occupied on Saturday. The showjumping on Sunday morning shook things up quite a lot, with the time limit being very tight. We added 11 faults, 2 down and 3 time which was dissapointing but not disasterous, so being as how we were not likely to trouble the leaderboard I could use the xc for gaining some experience. Like the novice track it was a big, bold galloping course, with the biggest drop into water I have ever seen. Smurf felt great, we took the option to circle between the wishing wells at 5/6, but he was super going straight at the owl hole to 2 very angled stables. He felt good enough for me to attempt the straight route at 21, the arrowhead brush at the bottom of a very steep slope in the quarry, however this didnt come off and we picked up 20 penalties, as the class progressed it was noticed that most people went straight for the long route but hey-ho we had to try. The rest of the course went without incident and he finished full of running for 53rd place. Despite the slip up I was really pleased with how it went, I'm starting to feel a lot more confident at this level and we will definately be aiming for Blenheim in September.
Monday, 12 July 2010
Thursday, 8 July 2010
Sam Penn fills us in on the latest from Eridge Horse Trials
Once again it has been a busy week for us, on Tuesday we had the Retraining of Racehorses clinic with Nick Turner, rescheduled after its previous cancellation due to Nick being trapped in America by the volcanic ash cloud. I joined in with Brooke, a lot of the work was going back to basics over poles which actually was very good for us and drew my attention to just how much Brooke tries to push out through his right shoulder. The following day was again spent having lessons with Nick, I had the first session with Smurf to see if we could find out where I'm losing my line through the advanced combinations, I'm hoping to have got to the bottom of it but I'll let you know after Barbury!
Sid has grown up a huge amount since our last session and I think might be growing up to be a little bit special, he has that 'bring it on' attitude and is always looking for whats coming next. My last lesson was on my new ride Rory, (Charter Party). Rory is quite a large horse and has been ridden by a much stronger person than I so we will take a while to get used to each other, as he will have to learn to think for himself rather more than he does at the moment, but he certianly has the scope and the ability and I think will be a very interesting project. We have managed to organise for Nick to come down to Golden Cross for several more training days approx once a month, spaces are filling fast so if you are interested contact Ian at info@goldencrossec.co.uk.
For once we had a whole weekend without having to leave Sussex, at one of our nearest events, Eridge Park. This is always an event that you know will be a very hot day with pretty hard ground, but the team this year had obviously put in a huge amount of work and the ground was pretty good. Saturday was a nice easy day with just Tickeridge competing. It was a return to more normal scores for dressage, but I felt the test was actually better than at Rackham, as he wasn't trying to hang on my right rein, we came out with a 29. We added no jumping penalties to this in either sj or xc but we were not very quick and picked up 8 time faults for eventual 5th.
Sunday was the busy day with 4 ponies competing, Coevers Diamond Clover and Charter Party were in the Novice sections with Captain Christy and Boundalong in the Intermediate. Flynn managed one of his better dressage days, not getting strong at all, for a mark of 34.5, he was still a little less than his usual self in the showjumping, and had the first part of the double down after backing off it a bit, but he jumped much better than in the last few weeks, the run accross country I think will have helped get his confidence back too, he started off a little bit quietly but towards the second half of the course I felt his confidence coming back. We finished up with 7.6 time penalties but this was still good enough for 7th place. My ride on Rory was just planned to be a bit of a 'getting to know you' day out. Some of his dressage was lovely and showed what potential he has, although there were also some bits that fell apart a bit, his mark of 39.5 actually compared quite well. The showjumping also went reasonably well with just one pole down. The cross country was an interesting ride, I allowed him his head a little at the start but soon decided that this was a bad idea as he didnt come back to me when required. I did re-establish some control in time for the sunken road which he popped very sweetly, but then rode the rest of the course with the handbrake firmly on. He is a very brave horse and totally straight so the course felt very easy for him, but we definately have a lot of work to do. Despite having a good hold of him for most of the round, he was still 2nd fastest in his section which I think says it all! But it was a super result for him to finish up 4th.
Muffin is still in digrace this morning after her performance in the dressage. The first few movements I thought we had some real improvement, she felt more relaxed and rideable throughout the trot work. Then she became very tense whilst walking and then into the canter but then changed instead of maintaining counter canter and when asked for a simple change, decided to throw a strop, stand up and wave at the judge. As always she jumped a lovely round showjumping, her one down was entirely rider error, having ridden 5-6 on a nice 6 strides in the morning it then rode much shorter over the bigger fences. Being completely out of contention we then just had a nice hack around the xc which she did jump beautifully, and to my suprise we finished up 11th, only just outside the ribbons.
Last to go was Captain Christy. He gave a nice calm obediant test and 31.4 is his best dressage mark so far with me, unfortunately he decided to act as if he had never seen a showjump before and had 2 down, but he redeemed himself across country, with a fantastic round, finishing full of running and one of the fastest in the section adding 11.4 time faults to finish 9th, our first eventing rosette together, its been a long time coming but he so deserves it, and it has put to bed a few demons as it was at Eridge last year that we had to pull up and afterward discovered his heart problems but he is certainly fighting fit now and ready for our next trip to Barbury for the CIC3*. 707 is also feeling well again so will be coming out for the RoR class, so fingers crossed for that.
Sid has grown up a huge amount since our last session and I think might be growing up to be a little bit special, he has that 'bring it on' attitude and is always looking for whats coming next. My last lesson was on my new ride Rory, (Charter Party). Rory is quite a large horse and has been ridden by a much stronger person than I so we will take a while to get used to each other, as he will have to learn to think for himself rather more than he does at the moment, but he certianly has the scope and the ability and I think will be a very interesting project. We have managed to organise for Nick to come down to Golden Cross for several more training days approx once a month, spaces are filling fast so if you are interested contact Ian at info@goldencrossec.co.uk.
For once we had a whole weekend without having to leave Sussex, at one of our nearest events, Eridge Park. This is always an event that you know will be a very hot day with pretty hard ground, but the team this year had obviously put in a huge amount of work and the ground was pretty good. Saturday was a nice easy day with just Tickeridge competing. It was a return to more normal scores for dressage, but I felt the test was actually better than at Rackham, as he wasn't trying to hang on my right rein, we came out with a 29. We added no jumping penalties to this in either sj or xc but we were not very quick and picked up 8 time faults for eventual 5th.
Sunday was the busy day with 4 ponies competing, Coevers Diamond Clover and Charter Party were in the Novice sections with Captain Christy and Boundalong in the Intermediate. Flynn managed one of his better dressage days, not getting strong at all, for a mark of 34.5, he was still a little less than his usual self in the showjumping, and had the first part of the double down after backing off it a bit, but he jumped much better than in the last few weeks, the run accross country I think will have helped get his confidence back too, he started off a little bit quietly but towards the second half of the course I felt his confidence coming back. We finished up with 7.6 time penalties but this was still good enough for 7th place. My ride on Rory was just planned to be a bit of a 'getting to know you' day out. Some of his dressage was lovely and showed what potential he has, although there were also some bits that fell apart a bit, his mark of 39.5 actually compared quite well. The showjumping also went reasonably well with just one pole down. The cross country was an interesting ride, I allowed him his head a little at the start but soon decided that this was a bad idea as he didnt come back to me when required. I did re-establish some control in time for the sunken road which he popped very sweetly, but then rode the rest of the course with the handbrake firmly on. He is a very brave horse and totally straight so the course felt very easy for him, but we definately have a lot of work to do. Despite having a good hold of him for most of the round, he was still 2nd fastest in his section which I think says it all! But it was a super result for him to finish up 4th.
Muffin is still in digrace this morning after her performance in the dressage. The first few movements I thought we had some real improvement, she felt more relaxed and rideable throughout the trot work. Then she became very tense whilst walking and then into the canter but then changed instead of maintaining counter canter and when asked for a simple change, decided to throw a strop, stand up and wave at the judge. As always she jumped a lovely round showjumping, her one down was entirely rider error, having ridden 5-6 on a nice 6 strides in the morning it then rode much shorter over the bigger fences. Being completely out of contention we then just had a nice hack around the xc which she did jump beautifully, and to my suprise we finished up 11th, only just outside the ribbons.
Last to go was Captain Christy. He gave a nice calm obediant test and 31.4 is his best dressage mark so far with me, unfortunately he decided to act as if he had never seen a showjump before and had 2 down, but he redeemed himself across country, with a fantastic round, finishing full of running and one of the fastest in the section adding 11.4 time faults to finish 9th, our first eventing rosette together, its been a long time coming but he so deserves it, and it has put to bed a few demons as it was at Eridge last year that we had to pull up and afterward discovered his heart problems but he is certainly fighting fit now and ready for our next trip to Barbury for the CIC3*. 707 is also feeling well again so will be coming out for the RoR class, so fingers crossed for that.
A busy month for Georgina Rose
June has proved to be a busier one than last!
At the beginning of the month I finally managed to find a quality pony to sell, a 14hh 5yo red leopard spot mare. She is very impressive and was reserved within 1 week by recommendation from a previous client, but frustratingly turned out to be a time waster! Dont we all hate those...so back on the market now and hopefully the right person will come along soon.
On a brighter note it gives me more time to bring on and 'play' with the new one! Her name is Lady Indiana G.R, and she certainly looks like one to watch. If anyone would like any more info on her, please feel free to contact me.
This month also brought about the final training sessions in preperation for my BHS Stage 2 exam. I have just taken the exam, am nervously awaiting results which could take up to 2 weeks to arrive! So will be in agony for a bit until they do, but fingers crossed for me that all went well!
My new youngster, Honeypot Sweet Pea, is now broken and riding on well. She is showing excellent trot work and has done her first ride around the farm. Very pleased with her and she looks to be everything I hoped she would be- so far so good! Planning a couple of in hand shows for her in July, very excited about her prospects. Heading for in hand coloured/youngstock/sport horse classes and Im confident she will do well if she manages to behave herself long enough to show the judges what she has!
Now that my BHS training evenings are over it means I can finally get Penny out and about again, who at the moment seems to be getting itchy feet at not going out as often as she is used too. Have a couple of evening classes planned for her next month at least, possibly some WH too . She is looking fit and on song at the moment so hope results should be good.
Planning permition for our new yard is slowly moving along, so nice to see something happening towards 'the real thing'. Touch wood it all goes through ok, we should be looking at a shiny new yard in 2011! Exciting stuff.
Monday, 28 June 2010
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.
Thursday, 10 June 2010
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!
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!
Tuesday, 8 June 2010
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.
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.
Monday, 7 June 2010
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
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