A busy July for Polly Tucker

July has been a busy busy month, we had our first event after an accident filled start to the year. We headed to Glanusk International for the BE 100 Open, it was a new event for 2010 and proved to be a fab event for the future. We had a lovely, calm test which was marked very harshly however was middle of the pack so we were pleased for his first event of the season. The show jumping wasn't too taxing and we flew round for a solid clear to be just outside of the top ten at that stage. Cross country was our downfall at this event, Wally had a trip on the flat and sent me flying out the door! We still completed clear around the course however when we viewed the results they noted it down as a fall at a jump, this was not the case it was on the flat. Even after a hour of deliberation and talks at the tent they could not change the result, gutted wasn't the word as we would have finished 7th or 8th!

Our next event was Badminton Dressage Championships with Percy, we were in the Pony Club class on the Friday where the team pulled off a second and was 5th in my arena. We all got goodie bags and a large badminton plaque. On the Saturday we went back up to take part in the middle of the road championships that we had qualified for, our test was a little tense and could of been better but we came away with a top twenty placing against riders from all over the country.

Between all these events we have been hard at work getting the horses fit and ready, Blue is back up to full work and aiming to be doing his first event soon. We also have a young new forest who is proving to be a cheeky chappy but very willing to learn and letting me sit on him for the first time no trouble.

My last event before this blog was Stockland Lovell BE 100 Open with Wally, he was a little excited by the nearby cross country in the dressage so not his best score by miles but still he behaved himself. Wally show jumped amazingly scoring another clear around a very decent challenging BE 100 course, we then headed off in the hot sun to the cross country.

The course at Stockland Lovell was much less taxing than usual but was a very lovely flowing course with some interesting fences. We flew around with a confident and bold clear, the dressage may have let us down on the day but we were very happy with a double clear and two shiny foundation points.

July has started busy and ends busy with Pony Club Area dressage and West Buckland BE, full steam ahead and hopefully I will write my next blog with some more good news.

Oli Lawrence on fancy dress trot ups, graveyard hacking and polystyrene cross country jumps

Well it’s just as well I like a busy life. The build up to Glanusk was seriously packed not just with the usual preparations for going away but with coursework deadlines at school and an end of term concert as well as various interviews so it was a major relief to finally be on our way on wednesday.

Thankfully Wales failed to live up to it's wet reputation and we were met with glorious sunshine. Plus, my navigation skills were faultless (a first) although the welsh road signs were slightly confusing – especially when the English half of the sign has fallen off! That said we rolled into Glanusk with plenty of time having negotiated various windy roads – I felt very sorry for some of the larger lorries!

Before being allowed into the stabling all the horses are inspected by the FEI vet which includes having their passports checked – given that vets and doctors handwriting are rather similar (illegible) he must have been a little peed off after checking the 100th passport... Next stop was the trot up (with a fancy dress theme for juniors) so as an australian bush man we trotted up and in true Dell style we passed - a little exuberantly....

In theory the next day was free but within seconds was filled with course walks and test practise for the next day. So with minute markers sorted (like mini time keeping markers to help you keep on time) things were looking up for the XC with just a few decisions to make about various routes. Thankfully the XC was on the strong side as our dressage on day 1 wasn’t fabulous. The atmosphere somewhat went to Dell’s head and there were a few too many mistakes. I also thought it would be a good plan to take Dell out for a hack so with great confidence set of having looked at the map which I was sooo sure I could follow.... First surprise was going over the very large ornate stone bridge straight out of the middle ages. The only things missing were knights and charging horses to take us back a few centuries (Dell don’t get any ideas!). Around the next turn there were also small gravestones – “don’t step on them”...clip, clip, clop - as Dell stands on the edges.. Although, nobody struck me down with lightening and other godly punishments stayed put so I figure I’m alright. Plus, I was actually following the right route which is more than I can say for some of my driving excursions having just passed my test.....

XC day thankfully dawned cooler than the first day and a lot of work by the organisers meant the ground was very good given the dessert conditions – Wales has never had so much sun! The course itself was beautifully built although the builders did have a great fondness for ditches! – “So how’s your’s with ditches?”, “Ermm... he’s alright but when he’s finished this he’ll be a prodigy...” Polystyrene logs were also being trialled at the second water on the course – polystyrene logs!!??! No, nobodies gone mad. They genuinely were made of the same polystyrene like you get toy tractors packaged in. That said, you couldn’t really tell the difference once you were on a horse! Before you ask, yes they did have plenty of spares! There was also a double of corners right in the middle of the main arena. It rode very well but was quite a contrast to the open space of the course before. I’m also told that you had to push your way to the front of a crowd of spectators at the water – I didn’t notice. Funnily enough when we dropped into the water everyone kind of mixed into one sunburnt streak... All went well though and we finished well inside the time, which pulled us up the leader board considerably.

The cooling facilities at the end of the track worked fabulously and there were several vets on hand who were checking horse’s temperatures - Dell wasn’t massively happy about that – I’ll let you figure out why! On an event sponsorship front one of the sponsors “Water Boy”, who build portable water sprays, had them in use at the finish. They definitely had the right idea as lots of people were impressed with them. Dell certainly liked the idea of having 2 personal assistants to cool him off at the finish!

Our showjumping wasn’t so hot but we finished up 27th which wasn’t so bad given that it was a first 3 day for both of us in a very competitive field. I was really proud of the 4 points Dell had gained this year but then I quickly realised that we’re actually a little bit low on that front as a fair few of the other horses were breaking well over the 60 point marker.

So now we definitely know the standard, seeing it’s a little bit like colliding with a large blunt instrument but sometimes jumping in at the deep end is the only way forward. Next stop Great Witchingham.

Sam Penn a fantastic weekend at Brightling despite brake failure and tripping up in the trot up!

I love events that dont involve hours of travelling in order to get there, so it was great to be close to home again this weekend at Brightling Park. Tickeridge got the weekend off to a flying start, with a win in BE100 sec A, finishing on his dressage score of 23.5. Brockley Star was hot on his heels with 3rd in sec B, also finishing on his dressage mark of 28.5. Boundalong rounded off the Saturday with her best performance to date in the dressage arena, with a mark of 58.5 in CIC **. Although there was some tension in places, it was a huge improvement with no waving at the judges or any unrequired flying changes, perhaps escaping from the horsebox and galloping around the lorry park for quarter of an hour is a much better way to prepare her than with lots of schooling!

Sunday also started well with Coevers Diamond Clover performing a lovely test in the CIC1* to be 4th after this phase on 46.6. unfortunately 12 faults added in the showjumping put us out of contention, but he went superbly across country, taking all the straight routes and dealing with a few things that he has never encountered before such as the bounce at fence 11/12. He also galloped up the final hill really well, especially considering he is 3/4 Irish Draught, better in fact than some Thoroughbreds I saw over the course of the weekend.

Charter Party also had a successful time in Novice sec G. Although his dressage contained a few blips, it was, overall a much better picture than at Eridge a few weeks ago. The same would go for the showjumping, although we did have 12 faults overall the round was more controlled and he is starting to listen to me. That could not be said of our cross country which he carted me around most un-ceramoniously. Despite me (trying) to put the brakes on for most of it and even having to circle before fence 18, the skinny out of the hollow, we still had the fastest time in our section, so there is still considerable homework to be done here, and maybe a search for some new brakes (suggestions on a postcard please....)

My ponies escaping seemed to be a recurring theme of the weekend, but none embarrassed me quite so much as 707, who tripped me over in the trot up, and proceeded to cavort around the 2* dressage arena for several minutes, evadeing the combined efforts of myself, various spectators, vets and the ground jury trying to catch him!! As was the case with Muffin the previous day it obviously worked for him, as he also performed a personal best at this level, for a mark of 57.4. He went on to jump a lovely clear in the showjumping, Muffin was unlucky to have the middle element of the combination, but she went on to jump well across country, apart from being a little green through the first water where she rather scrambled over the pontoon, the rest of the course posed no problems, and would certianly be some of the toughest terrain she has tackled to date. I was most pleased that she is learning to jump more out of her stride, without that 'showjumper' need to be set up every time.

It is wonderful to have 707 back on form as he is the most awesome horse to ride across country, he made the whole course feel like a Sunday stroll in the park, easily galloping up the long hill with just 4.8 time faults, 2nd quickest of the class, to finish in 6th place, my best ever 2* result. So all in all a fabulous weekend.

Katherine Begley gives us the lowdown on the last 5 events!

Wow, where to begin! I have made the mistake of not regularly sending in updates and so now face the mamouth task of overviewing five events! After my first event of the season at Withington and first ever event with Jack we headed off to Hambleden to do the CIC*, we did a fair test and got 58.1 which is about 38 in British Eventing terms. Unfortunately Jack spooked at a filler in the show jumping so we had an unlucky pole and then he went clear around the XC but was very strong so we got a few time penalties.

Next we went to Aston Le Walls for my first ever intermediate, Emma Humphrey who competed Jack last season helped me warm up and we did our best test by far. We scored 38 which was possibly slightly mean, but we did make a few mistakes. The SJ was causing a fair few problems because it was big and twisty but Jack jumped really well and we just had 4 faults at the second fence when I panicked a bit and caused him to hollow over the fence. (Dressage and SJ video - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UhF9Z8ho1EA ). Onto the XC, well he was absolutely flying round giving me by far the best ride I have had with him, up till fence 15d. A corner four strides after two steps down, unfortunately we wavered off our line slightly and ended up at the corner on 3.5 strides and although he tried his heart out, didn’t manage to clear it and we had a nasty horse fall. I had a very battered hip and was very concussed but luckily Jack was unharmed. (Video - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fnVXTVYfhSA ).

We then headed to Pontispool OI to try and get our intermediate qualification run for Glanusk Junior National Championships U18 CCI*. We had a disappointing mark in the dressage and a very unlucky pole in the Show Jumping but flew round the XC clear and inside the time to finish 9th overall, was thrilled! If slightly annoyed that we didn’t get a double clear! (Video - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ncnde5IRFEE ).

Onto the main event of the last few months – Glanusk JNC CCI* & JRN. I had both horses at Glanusk from Wednesday last week until very late on Sunday evening. Jack was doing the Junior National Championships CCI* class and Belvedere was doing his first event since Weston CCIJ* in October, a JRN class. I had a brilliant, but quite emotional and trying time! Jack did a fair dressage test but got a disappointing mark of 59.2, which equates to 39.5 in British Eventing terms. He then proceeded to do a fantastic XC round clear inside the time, doing all the direct routes over an incredibly big and technical track. However, later that day he became lame and although he was much better the following day, he was sent to the hold box during the trot up and I withdrew him from there. He had a slight sore point on his tendon, and although there was no heat or swelling there was no way I was going to run him and risk breaking him. So that was very gutting, but it doesn't take away how good he was on the cross country. (Video of Jack - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RooE2cf-2_c ). Then on Sunday it was Belv's turn to party. The dressage was very disappointing, he got slightly freaked out by the competition atmosphere and the test was below par. We ended up with 40.0 - not quite what the last 6months of hard work has been aiming for. Anyway he redeemed himself by jumping well in the SJ and just rolling at unlucky pole. As expected he romped around the XC and just had 5.2 time penalties because he is not very fit. We ended up 8th so it was nice to get a rosette! (Video - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yfU4H8fOWNg ).

And finally, Barbury Novice on Belv - Well it was Belv's second event of the season on the weekend but we did exactly the same as we did the week before at the first event of the season - 40 dressage, 4 faults SJ and clear XC with a few time!! It was a strange event, because Tor took Belv down for us, so me and mum drove down separately in the car (well actually I drove, can you believe it!!) He warmed up really well for the dressage, but unfortunately in the ring we had two ''moments'' that dropped our score from 33.7 to a 40.0. So that was very disappointing, however it just goes to show that the good work is in there and we will get those low 30's very soon! Next up was my nemesis, the Show Jumping! I was nervous because quite a few people I know were watching, however he had warmed up really well. Popped fences 1-7 really well, just tipped fence 8 and then got very deep to fence 9 but he tried really hard and cleared it. Then clear over the final double. So just an annoying four faults again!! Finally, the best bit! Needless to say, he absolutely flew around the XC for a fabulous clear with just 3.6 time penalties because he isn't all that fit. I do love him XC, he just takes everything in his stride, which is clear to see from how he jumped through the water! Totally foot perfect! All in all a slightly disappointing day due to the mistakes in the dressage and the pole SJ. It would have been nice to do a double clear and get a point, but hey ho! (Video - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rFEWlV4kz-M ).

To see more photos from the above events please visit my website and check out the Blog and Gallery pages – http://www.katherinebegley.com

Sam Penn at Barbury Castle

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.

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.

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.