Its been a busy few weeks, I know I say that often but it really has been, the yard is looking immaculate but my house isn’t – its full of boxes and clothes still, I’m trying to get round to that point but for me the yard is the most important thing. The yard is looking fantastic, where it’s been painted and its had a bit of a renovation and so anyone who comes down sees the difference, it looks lovely and I must admit it’s very nice not to be in a place surrounded by building work going on.
I’ve been out to several different competitions. I went to Burghley for Colombo to do the Young Event Horse final, 5 yr old final a couple of Fridays ago. It’s always a funny competition, its very subjective and unfortunately I was drawn too early really I think he was 16th to go, he did the most beautiful test and I was very disappointed to just get a 30 out of 35 for his dressage test, I’m not 100% sure what they were looking for there because my horse has everything and a good extension as well. I watched some of the other tests and I must admit I was quite surprised by how low his mark was. He jumped very well, he’s a bit spooky still and he just had one down which was a shame, he warmed up amazingly and just doesn’t quite do that same jump in the ring yet, which he will do later on and again had a slightly disappointing mark for his jumping and for his confirmation he got 10 out of 15 which was very low, I think he is a well put together nice model so the mark was quite surprising. So all in all we finished about 17th which was very disappointing I think if anyone has seen the horse go you would be surprised he didn’t make the top 10. I was looking at some of the horses in the top 10 and I must admit I was surprised by some of them in there. As I said it’s a subjective class and I don’t know why I do it sometimes because it breaks your heart really when you’ve got a good horse they should get the good marks but never mind… He won his last BE100 on a score of 23.5 so I know that he’s got talent. I just wonder if they should have results that go in so if they have done well in their 100’s then perhaps they should be rewarded perhaps on a points system before they start, I appreciate that some horses are greener than others but really it should be on a results basis not just potential because a lot of peoples horses are out doing things already and perhaps if they’re not there’s a reason why they arent doing things they should be the end of their 5 year old career which should be going quite well at the BE100 level.
I then went to Blenheim with two horses, I had Maisie in the CCI 3* and Red in his 8 and 9 Yr Old CIC 3* this was his first event at this level of competition so quite a big deal for him and also for Maisie to have her first CCI3* as always Blenheim is the most lovely event to go to, the weather was pretty kind to us we had a few rain showers but ground was great and they were actually watering the course because it has been quite dry there but I love the feel of Blenheim it’s got plenty of crowds and atmosphere so it’s a really good stepping stone for the horses before their next big competition as I say this was Maisie’s first CCI 3* and I was absolutely delighted with the way she went all week. She warmed up beautifully for her test, she worked beautifully before , and did a very nice test, there were a couple of bits - potentially slightly over bent but there really wasn’t a lot to say about it she did change on one counter canter circle early and then it was too late to get the change and so we lost quite a few marks on that but really I was thinking she’s get more of a 56 for the test, she was really hammered and got a 60 which disappointed me as I was so far down after the dressage and she can do a very professional and nice test and there weren’t any other mistakes in the test so 60’s pretty bad really so I was disappointed and on paper it looks a lot worse than it was but I was very pleased with the way she went. I then did Red’s test in the CIC and he again did a very nice test, he’s only an 8 year old so his changes were quite green and needs a bit of work on those in the ring but performed a very good test and a very confident level test for a young horse and he then scored a 55 which was about 25th after they’d all gone.
On the Saturday we went XC with Maisie it was 10 minutes 29 so it’s a long course and a hilly course and it was evident when the minute markers were very tight it was going to be a fast course to ride and she’s nearly full thoroughbred so bred for the job and she was an absolute MACHINE! I had a fantastic ride and at no point was there any moment of worry of anything because she was such a machine and she made it look effortless we finished a few seconds over the time so three time faults, I probably should have not got the time fault in hindsight but it was my first big three day event with her and I didn’t want to overcook it to start with but she has loads of gallop and finish- full of running which is really really exciting for the future as I know she can just gallop and gallop – with this it brought us up to finish in 29th place after the cross country so we had moved up considerably as I say she was a machine and I couldn’t have been more pleased with her- the only thing that happened to me though is when I got off her I could feel there was a sore spot in my back which then turned into a spasm quite quickly and I could hardly stand up straight and it cause me a lot of pain but I did the CIC 3* show jumping with Red he had one down I only missed it cause he was spooking so much, we were jumping at 7 o’clock in the evening which is far too late and they need to address this as it’s not fair on the young horses to be jumping in that big arena with the tremendous shadows and I actually couldn’t see a couple of the fences at all so I don’t know how he jumped them but this does need addressing because they do start some of them at 4pm or 4.30 and they don’t have the same issues so anyone who is drawn late gets horrible shadows, hopefully next year they may put it before the XC after the CCI. That night I was in a lot of pain with my back and a lot of stretching things helped it but it was quite evident that I didn’t think it was going to be good enough to ride around a XC course the next morning. Red’s XC was due to be at 11am the next morning before our CCI show jumping and I just couldn’t do it, so I unfortunately had to withdraw Red from that but I did manage to ride Maisie and it was amazing how adrenaline pulls you through, she jumped the most fantastic round jumped clear and we pulled up again four places and in the end she was 15th out of 100, I was chuffed to bits with this but at the same time was a little disappointed that I wasn’t in the top ten because I knew if she got the dressage mark which I really think she deserved and the three time faults I could have finished in the top ten but 15th placing was very good for her first start.
We left and went back and this week I’ve been sorting the yard out. I’m looking for staff, people really who are as passionate as I am. I really want people who want to learn to work with horses to look after them to the highest level; it has to be a passion. It’s about looking after the horses and for the love of them and the good of them and the results that they can then achieve. I’ve got good horses and I want the best for them and so if anybody is interested please contact me because I am looking for people with that real desire to learn and passion.
Going to Burnham Market this weekend with Reuben who is doing his first event he is doing the Intro, Colombo is doing his BE 100 and Bambi is doing a couple of novices. I’ve also been selected for the Le Lion d’ angers with Bertie as a 7yr old which is superb so really pleased with that we will go and do two championships there and also off of to Lignieres with Red soon to do the CIC 2 * there so good things to look forward to end the season.
I’m just currently out looking for another horse potentially one that has done a bit more, so if anyone has a good horse let me know.
Il be going to do some dressage with Tweedy and Imp – October towards November to improve their accuracy and my riding- they are still both for sale, their videos are up on my website and facebook page for people to see the horses going.
Please do get in touch at sharonsworld@hotmail.co.uk if your interested in working for me or are interested in the horses I have for sale.
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