I have literally been on the road for the last two weeks hence again the lack of diary…I have been XC schooling the young horses- Columbo, Billy and Elsa ready for their first events/ competitions so this has also taken time between the events. I enjoy the young horses so much as they improve so quickly, it is very satisfying when they get better and better.

 

We went to Keysoe as I stayed with my parents for the weekend and also combined it with a trip to Rossdales that has been successful. The good news is that Jasper’s scan is looking better and I will tentatively aim for big autumn competitions but won’t say where yet just in case! He starts cantering now so we will see, I am very excited, you can’t imagine how much better he is feeling now his work has been increased. He knows when we are working to a big competition and sure he will be hopeful now!

 

 

Keysoe had made a huge effort with the ground; they spread woodchip all over the dressage warm up and around the XC course. They then aggravated the course and luckily we had some rain both nights which made the ground pretty good. The show jumping was also on a great surface so all in all pleasing ground. I had Amber in the open novice as I couldn’t get an intermediate run before Chatsworth. She performed a good test but the judge sadly didn’t agree and gave her 37!! I felt it was a 30 but nevermind. She did a double clear and came 9th; she was strong still so I was slower, still working progress. Imp performed a very good test but not a whole lot better than Amber and scored 24, very much in the lead! He jumped clear SJ and nearly clear XC but I had a run out at the first corner annoyingly and still came 10th. I am so close to a win but still not close enough! It will be celebrated when I do!! 

 

 

Luna was in the 100 and performed a great test for 29 and jumped double clear and was just pipped to 2nd. She is great fun to ride, a very nice mare.  We returned again with Elsa and Bomber in the 90 h/c. I wish that all 90′s had an open section as we would all like to be competitive, there were several of us going h/c.  Bomber did a good test, 32 and double clear and would’ve been 3rd and Elsa was very grown up and scored 25 and double clear and would’ve won her section again. Good weekend and back to Kent.

 

 

I had a couple of days back at home, riding all the horses at the yard and then off again. I’d also taken Bambi and Tweedy to the vets to be checked, good news for those two also that my new farrier is doing a great job and they are ready to crack on again. They should both be ready for the autumn events. 

 

 

We left Wednesday with seven horses (Vivien taking Red) for lessons with Anna up at Oxfordshire as I was competing at Aston Le Walls in the Intermediate and then at Chatsworth at the weekend.  The lessons were great, she has such a lovely way of teaching/ training / explaining. The horses are making great progress especially Bertie and Maisey. Now it’s more of a case of tidying up corners, transitions and straightness rather than the basics. Red and Romeo also making good progress with more emphasis on balance.

 

 

We stayed at Anthony Clarkes’ before an early start at Aston Le Walls. I was seriously impressed with the watering and aggravating on the XC course as the ground was very good. As expected it did dry out later on in the day so the best ground was early on but it was still good late on. The course is also ideal for a first time intermediate, a few testers but generally a nice educating course. I did chuckle to myself walking the course at the 2nd water which was a brush in, as it used to be a log and this is where i had a spectacular departing from Imp 2 years ago! Thankfully history didn’t repeat itself!

 

Imp didn’t perform his best test, I must admit the emphasis had been on XC so I have neglected his dressage, (have been working hard since!) so he scored 32. Red did a great test for 26, Romeo was a little on his forehand for 34 and Maisie was a little excited with the wind howling a gale during her test so scored 35. They all jumped clear SJ, I must say they are jumping superbly this year. All credit to Joaos’ help. I went xc on Red first, i was as quick as I could be bearing in mind he had just returned from an allergy. He was very good and finished 5th, good result and the places were very tight! Imp was awesome, exceptional at the waters but I had the most stupid mistake at a single fence, I went to slow down as he ran slightly and he took exception and ran out! He felt the horse I had wanted to buy finally, scopey and careful and even though he had a run out this was a big achievement for us. Onwards and upwards now!

 

Romeo jumped very well XC as did Maisie but I felt the ground by the afternoon wasn’t sufficiently soft enough to go too quickly so they both had time faults. A good day though. Luckily Georgie Strang took my horses home for me so I could stay in Oxfordshire with Bertie, Luna and Amber. I did some vital schooling at Aston ready and prepped for Chatsworth.

 

I don’t often get lay ins but when I do I can really sleep. This was the case on the Thursday evening, I slept for 10 hours! (I think 9 the next night too!) More often than not this part of the season and the end are exhausting as we are working towards 3 days and the horses are really coming into their own now. So a couple of good nights sleep really does help!

 

We got to Chatsworth and it’s like a different world from down south. The grass is green! Although they had also been watering the XC course extensively. The heavens did open a few times over the weekend though to provide us with perfect going at last! I wish it could continue but sadly we have still had no rain here…

 

I schooled Bertie, Luna and Amber as soon as we arrived, I was well aware Bertie had a great chance of winning a Novice as he is so established at that level now. Luna at the other end of the scale her first time. They both did very good tests and scored 32 for Luna and 30 for Bertie. Bertie was in the lead! We had a lovely meal with my parents and owners David and Sue Howard and I slept for hours again!!

 

The show jumping caused a few problems, sadly Luna had a fence down as she was rather strong, but Bertie jumped an immaculate clear. Luna jumped superbly XC for her first novice, she is very able and I hope that I will be able to keep her as she will go far I’m sure. She has a natural confidence and ability that makes her lovely to ride.. She finished 10th not bad for her first one! Bertie was exceptional XC and was clear inside the time and won, by 1 point! So delighted as he thoroughly deserved that, lets hope he makes it to Gatcombe…

 

Amber performed a reasonable test but wasn’t that competitive unfortunately. Surprisingly we had 1 down, but  had a brilliant clear XC. She was superb and back to her old form so pleased, she is some horse to ride when she’s in good form and today was one of those days.

 

I went SJ schooling with Elsa, Bomber, Columbo and Billy and Romeo and Maisie to canter at LMEQ. The ground understandably is firm there so we jumped the drops, waters ditches etc and that was enough for a practise. The show jumping arena is great as there are very spooky fillers and plenty of them! Billy is very brave and has a naturally good jump, as does Columbo. Elsa is very talented and will go far for sure and Bomber has improved so much the last 2 weeks, he is for sale but I am happy to keep him as he has developed an excellent jump now. We cantered Maisie and Romeo who worked well, ready for Brigstock.
 

We left for Brigstock with 7 horses at 5 30. We were stabling all weekend there as by the time you pack and unpack for that many horses each day it’s worth paying the extra money to stable on site, at least then you have a permanent base! Elsa was in the 100 5 year old section. Her first one! The ground was very good considering they hadn’t had any rain for 3 months. They had extensively aggravated and aerated the xc course but also the dressage warm up and show jumping. The 100 course was testing enough in places for her first one but this is what I had wanted as she is so bold. She performed a lovely test to score 27 but sadly was a little unsettled in her show jumping where she was excited and had 1 down! She was superb XC and jumped clear in the time and finished 4th. Disappointing as she would have won if the fence hadn’t come down but still fantastic for her first one!

 

I also had Romeos’ 2* test in then afternoon, he was wild the first time I worked him as the warm up is right next to the water and they can hear them going XC (and see them!!). On the 2nd working in he was more settled and he too performed a good test, needs more work on his cadence and transitions but other than that a very tidy test for 52. I worked all the others, it’s a good time to spend time at the event working on different areas in need of improving, also at the event they can be different so also good to have time for this too.

 

I had nearly all day off Saturday so I worked all the horses again ready for sunday and walked their relative courses too. I was impressed to see the machines back out working hard on the ground during the event too. Too many events do their work on the first day and then that’s that. Not the case here thankfully.

 

Romeo show jumped an immaculate clear and moved up a few places. He also jumped clear XC, I took a couple of long routes as we were after the clear round so he can compete in a CCI 2* now, so I was impressed that even with his longer routes he still finished 12th out of a large field.

 

Sunday was busy, I had 5 rides and the times come thick and fast so you have to be well organised (and fit, helpers and rider!!). Imp was on first, there were horribly strong winds all day which tried to blow all the jumps down which wasn’t helpful. He was nearly perfect in his test so i was slightly disappointed to score 26.7 but he jumped a brilliant double clear inside the time and felt brilliant xc. At last! We finished 2nd, I was so pleased he is now ready for intermediates rather than novices. He will next go to Salperton.

 

Ambers’ test was much better and she scored 30 in the OI. Maisie was a little tense but better to score 39 in the AI and Bertie was excellent other than his last halt for 31 and the end of Reds’ test was very good and scored 35 all competitive marks. Amber and Maisie were excellent in the sj and both jumped clear. Bertie and Red were unlucky to both have a fence down in otherwise lovely rounds. They were all brilliant XC. Amber was so good she nearly jumped me off going into the 2nd water! She was so much more controllable and relaxed and we only had a couple of time faults to finish 4th. Maisie was very good too and finished 8th in a tightly scored section. Red was 6th and the quickest with 2 time faults and Bertie was brilliant, he is the youngest but by no means the greenist, naturally brave and careful. He finished 9th but again the section scores were very close.

 

This meant I had 7 places no lower than 12th which I was delighted with. A very good weekend!

 

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