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The topic of this week has to be the weather. I haven’t seen so much snow in England as long as I can remember. We still have some here now; I was told that if it’s in the hedgerows we’ll get more… I hope not! It has to be said though that I have no idea how we coped without an indoor school. I am genuinely sorry for keeping on about this, but remember I didn’t have one until this year and remember scraping the snow off with the harrow last year and riding as many as possible before it froze again..Not this year, in fact I nearly am doing the same as always. Only thing is everyone else has a few days off or go to the pub because they can’t work and we are working hard still!!I would much rather that though! We are using the walker too now, hopefully our big, covered one will be in after Christmas, but we are grateful for anything to give the horses a day off from riding once a week as our fields are either frozen or flooded.
I went back to Suffolk Sunday night as I knew the snow would be coming and wanted Jasper checked over again. He has had some treatment so hopefully we will have him back next year… I also had my three boys to pick up; as the weather was supposed to be so horrible I didn’t want them to be out in that. I am very soft when it comes to leaving horses out in the winter (they also have massive warm Bucas rugs on!). The boys look fantastic, they have been at Mrs Sue Cross’ and she has looked after them superbly! We had a little snow up in Bury but not too bad. The weather reports were not good from Kent but the indoor schools were the only way I could work my horses our school at my parents was pretty solid. I was happy to be snowed in at my parents but thought rather unfair on the two girls at home as they had plenty to keep them busy!! So Tuesday evening I decided I would leave at about ten the next day so the roads were thawed out. How wrong could I have been? The reports from Kent were that it was snowing but not too badly but I was worried as the M25 reports were horrendous. Nevertheless I set off with Becky, my six horses and two dogs. The journey was not too bad to start with, apart from the lane was very icy but I could go slowly. We even made good time to the M25 and no hold ups, brilliant! It was even more unheard of when I travelled 56 mph all the way to the Dartford Bridge. I was a little unnerved when we saw the 70 minute delay signs after the bridge but when I saw the queues of lorries turning onto the A13 and off the M25 I was very concerned. I can’t tell you how the picture changed within 15 minutes, one minute we were driving on a good four lane motorway, the next barely one lane was open no gritters in sight and I was lucky to be going 20 mph. It was frightening as I was so worried the about the horses being stuck overnight on the road, as one person stopped, we all did, as there was no way around. I was horrified that this was one of our biggest roads and it was barely passable at 1 pm. I understand the conditions were hard but when we got onto the A21 within a few miles the gritters and snow ploughs were out in force and the roads were nearly normal. I/ we were very happy to be home! I was not leaving for some time and my lorry hasn’t moved since we landed!!
It was worth the journey though as I was able to ride everything as normal nearly. We jumped them Friday, Harry and Bertie for the first time in a while, they were very keen! I am getting them ready for a world class equine pathway day soon.
All week Gabriella’s’ staff had been practising for the Christmas pantomime, it was amazing. Serious lights and sounds, a very good production! Sadly the weather wasn’t kind though and poured with rain. However we needed this though to remove the snow, if it hadn’t rained we never would have been able to hack out even now. We went to the South East Eventers league Ball Saturday too. It was a really good night, well organised and good fun. We had a rodeo bull which we all had a go on; being very competitive it was taken quite seriously. In a dress though isn’t that easy! There were some very good awards and prizes on offer, sadly I didn’t win any but will try hard next year!!
I have a new edition to my team at the end of this month, a new head girl named Harriet. Looking forward to her starting, I am however looking for a new working pupil asap, please contact me info@sharonhunteventing.com I have some lovely horses so it’s a great opportunity for someone…
Somehow now have to do some Christmas shopping before next weekend as I’ll never have time just before Christmas! Let’s hope no more snow…
It seems hard to believe that I have finished eventing three weeks ago now already, the time has flown by, and I am trying to catch up with administration work in all aspects. Also now have time for spring cleaning my house and even cooking, I am determined to become a seriously good cook by the end of the winter! I only have six horses in work which so is unusual to have time to do other things. So far I have also made the most of having some social time, we have even taken part in a pub quiz (which we didn’t win, too many racing questions!) and been out for lots of meals, had a night out in London and been back to Suffolk a couple of times. I am not good at just sitting down and relaxing so when I have some free time I tend to fill it very quickly!
I am also looking for another horse, nothing too pricey and not fussy on the age either but would like something that has done a bit ideally. However a nice horse is always welcome, any age, colour, sex etc! Any suggestions welcome please!
The weather has not been too bad though rather cold (snowing as I write this though now), we were able to get out and jump a few of the XC jumps with Buddy and Flash to see how they were with them. They are both incredibly brave and jumped everything first time so delighted. We have decided that Buddy is to be sold sadly, I shall put some videos and more pictures up of him, he is a lovely horse but we can only keep one. We are interested in a possible syndicate with either Buddy or Flash too so please if anyone is interested this is a great opportunity to be involved with really good young horses that will go on and do well eventing. Please contact me via email, any ideas are welcome.
I had lessons last week with Anna with Bertie who has really blossomed from his holiday and is trying so hard to please. Red has also improved dramatically and continues to do almost daily, he is also jumping really well as his flatwork improves. I had lessons on Flash and Buddy too, working on them stretching down and taking the rein more, which they both did and produced some lovely work. I also had a jump lesson with Joao Charlesworth who helped me with Flash, who was brilliant, working on a serpentine over fences backwards and forwards. This exercise helped me keep riding him in a good rhythm even though the turns were relatively tight and keep a softer hand at the same time, giving me new ideas to work on which is great for me this winter.
We had some help this week from Jillian who came all the way from Scotland for the week, she had a great time (so she told us!) and learnt so much, I still have spaces for various weeks so please contact me!
I had a really good day at Stow discussing 2012 details last week. The day didn’t start well though when the sun roof smashed on my car, have no idea how it happened but was quite ironic that I had just cleaned the car and hovered it all out for the first time in months the day before, not doing that again in a hurry!! I was luckily staying at my parents so swopped cars with Dad which is great as he has a rather beautiful sports car to drive about in, shame it’s not summer! The day was incredibly informative also gave me realistic goals I need to work towards to get each horse to the necessary point. After being at Beijing which was incredible there is no way I’m missing out on London! I had a good season this year, I finished 19th in the rankings and was very tight at the top apart from William and Andrew Nicholson who are streaks ahead. Jasper finished a very credible 12th; again the top few were really close just a few points separating them. I hope next year will be better though and would like to see some of the other horses in the top 100 too.
Contact me on: info@sharonhunteventing.com
Apologies for not having a diary for last week but I literally didn’t have any spare time to write it. The days leading up to Pau were filled with organising, galloping, lessons, and preparing for the last event of the year so I thought I would dictate on the way to Pau but as we were travelling through the night we didn’t manage to do it then either!
I had some brilliant lessons with Anna before I left but for some reason on Friday afternoon I developed terrible muscle spasm in my back and couldn’t actually ride on Saturday and Sunday. This is not ideal leading up to 2 horses in the 4*. I managed to find a local Physio (thank you Lena) to help me Saturday and Sunday, and I also went swimming which seemed to loosen it up. By Monday morning I could just about ride so felt fit to go!
We left for the South of France at 2 O’clock in the afternoon, picked up Emily Baldwin who lives about 10 minutes away and finally after hours of driving arrived in Pau at 11 a.m. the next day. I know we are not supposed to get the horses off the lorry at night but we did 3 times to let them walk a bit and graze. They came off the lorry really well and I think it makes a big difference to them. The weather was considerably warmer than in England, who says that eventing in November is crazy!
Having 2 horses in the 4* was superb for me, I have finally found a back up horse for Jasper. Kenny and Jasper were incredibly relaxed working up to the beginning of the competition, probably a little tired from the travelling and also that it was suddenly warmer. We were able to work on good surfaces and the event had a lovely laid back feel to it. I walked the cross country course and was rather surprised at the difficulty of it. People had warned me that there would be lots of angles and turns, but I had never seen so many in one course and also the big drops then turns to fences. I knew this wouldn’t be a walk in the park and I would need a bit of luck as well as good riding.
Kenny was the first to go – a new experience for me. He performed a very nice test with the exception of one extra flying change. He scored 66 penalties, perhaps a little harsh because there were some very nice movements; I think if he had been drawn later he would have scored much better marks. Jasper was his usual brilliant self and was nearly faultless throughout the test with the exception of two changes which I could have ridden a little more forward. He scored a 42.8 and left me only one mark behind the joint leaders – Ruth Edge and Karin Donkers – probably the best dressage riders on the circuit.
They also had a 2* competition which let me have time to look at the cross country course and the ground considering it had been lightly raining that morning. There were several falls on the flat in one particular area which was also part of our course so I knew where to be careful on the turns. The ground was generally very good, quite sandy but certainly slippery on top so we used some big studs behind. I warmed Kenny up for half an hour quietly jumping fences on turns and angles as much as possible so I could get him used to the course that lay ahead. The questions came thick and fast on the course so I had to be well prepared. Kenny started very well, the fourth fence was a right hand corner which he jumped a little right over but still went between the flags. We had several interspaced fences which used to be his Achilles heel, but he jumped them absolutely beautifully. Coming out of the first water there was a very acute angle after a step which he misread, and muddled over it very genuinely. He proceeded to jump superbly over the middle part of the course. We had a related distance from a white gate to a big house with a drop behind it, three sharp left strides to another house and he turned as well as he could but we got there on 3 and a bit and quite understandably stopped at the last part. He continued and jumped the straight way through the second water foot perfectly and yet more difficult angle combinations. We jumped into the last water over a large boat and I tried the straight way out of the water up a big step and over a big boat, perhaps this was a step too far later on in the course and possibly should have taken the long route which we then duly did after a stop, and then were suddenly pulled up before the next fence to be told by the jump judge that you were only allowed 2 stops on this particular course. I disagreed and said I am sure we are allowed 3 but by the time they had realised they had made a mistake I had been walking for 3 minutes and after he had been galloping for 9 1/2 minutes it is not very easy or safe to start again as he was in the in-between stage of recovering and still very tired, and really should have been washed off at that point. I was disappointed and confused as to what had just happened and walked back to the stables. I was really proud of him as he coped easily with the dimensions and will aim for Luhmuhlen next year.
I watched several riders after me and it is not unfair to say that the course caused carnage, there were problems evenly distributed throughout the course which is often a sign of a good cross country course, but perhaps 5 inside the top 16 with a stop says quite a lot. Nonetheless I was confident Jasper would tackle the course well which he duly did. I set off at maximum speed knowing that I would like to take a couple of long routes towards the end of the course. He jumps better and better with age and was absolutely perfect around the beginning of the course. In hindsight I should have been steadier between the white rails and the house to try and get a smaller jump over the house to turn. He ballooned the first house and consequently I couldn’t turn in time. I knew I could still finish in a good position with a stop so went as quickly and carefully as possible to the finish. We finished in 16th place after cross country and I knew if I jumped a good show jumping course in the usual difficult Pau track I could move up a few places. Sadly this competition just wasn’t meant to be as Jasper was quite sore on Sunday morning and I withdrew him from the vet’s inspection. I am still unaware of where I finished in the HSBC rankings but for me my horse’s welfare is more important than anything. I am so pleased with the way Jasper performed – he truly is an amazing horse and this year has been phenomenal with him and it would have been a tall order to expect to finish so high up again in his 12th 4*.
Our lorry suffered ill fate as Emily developed flu on the Friday and wasn’t able to continue after dressage. Luckily we were still in good spirits on the way home and arrived back in England still cheerful at 10 a.m. Monday morning. Unfortunately the weather wasn’t quite so cheerful; I hope it improves for the rest of the winter!
I enjoyed the trip to Pau. I have learnt a lot about horses that are suitable for this competition for the future and I am still really proud of both my horses and it is onwards and upwards for Kenny from here.
Sadly Jasper has suffered an injury, only time will tell when he is able to come back (here’s hoping it is a soon as possible – he certainly isn’t ready to retire yet!). I will do my very best to ensure that he is up and running in 2011.
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