Monday 20th – Sunday 26th September 2010

The build up to Pau is going to be quite busy and intense as I’ve alot to cram into the few weeks! I am on a serious health kick and have nearly cut out all alcohol (sorry if repeating myself from last week!) and am cycling like crazy around the forest again and running around my XC courses. I plan to be the fittest I’ve ever been. I’m also doing a good job of avoiding the dreaded cold that everybody seems to have and am determined to keep it away..

I went to Bury Farm to have some incredibly valuable lessons with Anna on Monday. We worked on various different things with the horses. Bertie has to learn to stay in a better self carriage and I have to let him make mistakes so I can correct them and therefore he can learn the correct way quicker. His transitions improved and did some lovely work. Amber was basically the same; we also worked on the preparations for movements in the test at Osberton, correcting her when she was too strong/ keen. Harrys’ lesson was perfecting really he tries so hard, Anna calls him the school prefect! Red had his first lesson with Anna, he responded very well, as he can draw back and shorten the neck we were constantly trying to stretch him and allow him to. He became more confident as the lesson went on, we have lots to work on before Osberton but he responded so well I am sure his test will be pretty good!!

The ground has continued to be brilliant out in the fields so I have been cantering them all for Osberton (starting to back off these a little now) and Jasper has been cantering well and Kenny also started again the end of this week ready for Pau. Jasper is surprisingly fit; trotting around the hills really must get their lungs going as they are in good health now! He can do 3 times around the field quite happily; I am aiming for 5 ideally by the end of October so this should be achievable. At last the splint looks and feels hard and settled so time to crack on which is very exciting, life without Jasper working hard is just not the same.

I had a midweek trip back to Newmarket to see my family and friends so took some horses with me. I swam Jasper to aid his fitness, it does make him blow hard as he is a very fast swimmer, but it doesn’t take him long to recover unlike galloping. However it’s good to keep it up as you never know when you may not be able to gallop… (horses always manage to injure themselves at the most inconvenient times!). We collected a mare from Newmarket for Gabriella which is going to point to point again after a while off, they are collecting pointers at the moment so will be fun to follow them over the winter! I have also ridden my first pony for years! Tashe Atkinsen has a lovely bay eventing pony which needs jumping so I gladly offered. He is quite scopey and brave so is good fun, nice to be able to just enjoy riding for fun, rather than permanently having goals. This is to be a job for a while so will also be satisfying to see improvement in him.

We went to the South of England event this weekend, a relatively local one now for me. The ground was superb and was nice to jump in the main arena which had some atmosphere and was a reasonable size. I had Bertie in the novice, he never fails to please! He was so improved from his lesson and the weeks work and performed a very relaxed test to score 30. He then jumped his usual double clear and finished 4th. I am so pleased with him, he is incredibly brave, never questions me which is fantastic. A good placing too as the section was very competitive.

Red was in the open novice as was Harry. I decided Harry needed a XC run as he has Osberton 2* next week and hasn’t run since Breda so I wanted to make sure he was as ready as he could be. He was a little fresh in his test, (he is very fit now and a little cheeky!) scoring 30 also.
Red was much more relaxed and the outline was altogether softer and scored 33. Vast improvement from Purstons’ mark. He then went on to jump a lovely show jumping round but just touched the last, but his xc was again faultless, he will be very reliable and quick, a perfect combination for a very good event horse. He finished 7th and Harry jumped double clear and finished 5th. I had 3 time faults which cost me 2nd, but the aim was the bigger picture of next week. All these horses are destined for far better things than a good novice placing…

We went back the next day with Amber who was just to do dressage as she too is at Osberton. She performed her best test for a while and scored 26.4, joint lead! I hadn’t been planning to jump her at all so hadn’t since Breda which showed when we had a fence down. She was slightly too keen and had the front bar of a parallel which is most unlike her. I withdrew her, even though the ground was good, she has already run around that track and didn’t need to again. I made the most of returning though by filling the lorry with ones to work. It was well worthwhile, I schooled Kenny and Jasper in the 2* arena which had the flowers etc up still. It was so good to school them quietly in the arena without pressure; all horses need this especially my 2 red heads that have a tendency to get excited!! I also took Nelson to school. He has grown so much that I have taken him very carefully, he won’t be ready this year to event, and I’m in no hurry as he is a lovely horse. . He has super paces and a very good brain, really wants to please so should be exciting to start next year… I rode Bomber too; he needs as much exposure as possible to the outside world! He is improving all the time but can get distracted if there is alot going on, hopefully soon he will be bored by it all!

A good weekend again, all set for next week hopefully! My team of horses are really coming along, great to be having a good season; I’ll be doing my best to keep the good results coming!!

Monday 23rd August- Sunday 19th September

I’ve had more lessons with Anna again which is really helping the marks. We’ve been working on small flexions and bends to help prepare for the lateral movements and improve suppleness. I put this into practise at Oldencraig where I had a particularly good day, winning the elementary on Harry and Jasper who was superb in his first trip out after Luhmuhlen and won the other elementary and won the medium. Ken also won the advanced medium, he tried incredibly hard as the test was complicated, he really is settling and improving.

My tests were also good at Highclere, the hard work is paying off! I ran Imp in the 100 as the XC course is so nice and he just needs easy runs. He did a 20 dressage and a lovely, relaxed double clear. His next run is a novice again.  Amber has been slightly upset by the introduction of changes so her tests are slightly tense, she jumped clear SJ but I decided not to run her as she was at Breda the next week. Harry was his usual (and regularly!) amazing self with a 28 dressage, 1 down and fast clear xc round to win his intermediate. I knew this would be the last chance I may have to win and qualify for Gatcombe intermediate championships next year. As he did so well in the novice I plan to do the same next year!   Jasper was in the advanced, he did a beautiful test, a 25! I was in the lead but didn’t run as he has a splint I’m looking after so we can get to Pau. I am now no longer on the reserve list for WEG as he won’t be fit enough sadly. Was just not meant to be.  Kenny was a superstar also in the advanced. He performed a lovely test and got a much better mark, 32. He then jumped clear in the show jumping! We changed the bit to a curb gag which he seems to really like, he has fences because he comes against the hand and with this bit he seems not to so far… He was brilliant XC too and finished 6th, our best result so far… And great preparation for Blenheim!

I have a new horse named Red or Chataigne Filice, he is a 7 year old chestnut gelding Irish Sport Horse x Selle Francais. Very nice, just needs producing, has lots of talent and some very nice owners Vivian and Bob Jupp. I’m delighted he’s come my way…

I took Red, Brian, Bomber and Bertie to Firle for some XC schooling. I was seriously impressed with the changes they’ve made to the course and the ground was superb. They open the course for schooling after the event for three days so is all flagged etc. It was superb, they all went really well. I could take them around a smaller course then the next one up and so on.

We left for Breda at 5am with Jasper, Amber and Harry. The aim was to get my qualifications and hopefully some prizes! Jasper was never really going to run unless he did a fabulous test again, but the carriages made sure that didn’t happen!   It was my first time there, fabulous place, great for experience for the younger horses. There were big arenas and flags everywhere also carriages, 4 horse, 2 horse and single. The world championships for the Paralympics were also on at the same time so the event was even bigger and better than usual. My horses were terrified of the carriages though and the drivers seemed unaware of the grief they caused us all!! By day four they were beginning to calm down but sadly too late for Amber and Jaspers’ tests!  Harry however performed a lovely test and didn’t get the mark I was expecting, a 56! It was fault free and got 5′s and 6′s. Nevermind, I was still very pleased. The show jumping was in a very big arena full of atmosphere. The 2 * was big but the 3* wasn’t which surprised me. It was a brilliant experience for them with the large crowds and still the carriages the were going past! Harry jumped clear, was rather strong but jumped really well, as did Amber who also jumped clear. I didn’t jump Jasper as his splint is still slightly sore… Harry moved up a massive amount from his clear round and Amber too, about 20 places! This had me in a good position with Harry for the XC, I had decided to take him at the pace he needed to give him a good, confident run and qualify as this was the aim. He jumped superbly as usual; the course was not technical but reasonably big. The ground was superb and very flat, something I’m not used to anymore… He jumped clear, we had just four time faults and finished 9th which was a good result. He is now qualified for a 2* so will either be Osberton or Le Lion D’Angers 7 year olds I’m hoping to get into… Amber also jumped clear, I took her around a couple of long routes to make sure she got her 3* qualification as this was also the reason we were here. I was full of praise for the courses and place just the carriages need addressing as they were too close too often. Breda itself was a beautiful town, I will return next year if Kenny isn’t at Burghley!

Kenny will be at a 4* soon though as he got his qualification at Blenheim. This is what I have been after for the last year with him. It seems crazy to think he is ready for a 4* but if he didn’t get the result needed at Blenheim he would have to do another 2* as that had nearly run out! Luckily the extra miles don’t need to go on his legs now… I was disappointed leaving Blenheim realising that I still can’t get into Badminton as he didn’t finish in the top 25 % but shouldn’t be as it was the qualification we were after and this was achieved. I am hoping to take him to Pau 4* this year, he has only ever done 5, 3 day events and has been run carefully so shouldn’t be over run… Very exciting I now have two- 4* horses!!

Kenny is getting used to the big atmospheres too now; he was so much more settled. He worked really well before his dressage and I thought we would do a brilliant test, which he is well capable of. Interestingly he became over round in the arena, something I’ve never had before with him and although the test was nice they naturally marked me down for each movement so we ended up on a 59. Still better than previous tests so improving. The XC course was lovely. I’ve not been to Blenheim for 7 years, since Jasper went in 2003 so I was very excited to be there and ride around the course again. I was surprised how long the course was, just under 11 minutes which was apparently longer than Burghley! The hills are still hard work at Blenheim, not so much maybe as Bramham but similar in how tiring the course can be. Kenny has so much thoroughbred in him and I needed it. The course wasn’t massively technical but there were plenty of places to run out or have an annoying 20 penalties, but I knew speed would be very influential. We set off at a good pace, my aim to go as fast as possible but without faults! He has an amazing gallop and effortless for him and he made the course feel very straightforward. There were no ‘moments’ anywhere, he is also incredibly scopey so is pure pleasure to ride around the course. We had 5 time faults which I felt I got at the end of the course as I so wanted a clear and took 1 slightly longer route. We moved up from 58th to 27th! I always felt his XC will be his strong point, hence why I really feel he will be a brilliant Burghley horse.
He showjumped well, the track was not suited to him; constant turns back on ourselves like a jump off. When we entered the arena the crowd were also clapping loudly, as he hasn’t showjumped at the big events often he became quite strong and fought to some of the fences at the end of the course to have two down and some time faults which dropped us to 33rd. I was slightly disappointed but I know this is our weak phase and have the winter to work on it and plenty of time before Pau…  
 

As I’d been away for the last two weeks I had some catching up to do! I also had to take some for routine checks to Rossdales and combined this with a visit to Rachel Uptons’ XC course, my old local schooling course. This place is really improving and is a great place for young horses with plenty of variety of types of fences. I schooled the horses competing this week; all were good and felt it was a very valuable experience for them.

With our ground being so good at home I can also keep cantering them here rather than taking them to the gallops which saves me hours. The horses preparing for Osberton are cantered every four days and Jasper is starting too as well in preparation for Pau. I have also been jumping them outdoors and dressaging as we have an arena too in the park. I am so fortunate to have all these facilities, coming from a yard with few I am constantly very grateful and haven’t got used to them yet!!
We were off to Purston Manor with Red, Imp and Bertie on Thursday. They had given me reasonably early times so we left at 5am to make sure we missed the traffic and had time to walk the courses.  I really like Purston as the ground is always good and the courses are fair and educational. Imp as always performed a brilliant test for a 28, Red and Bert are working progress. Red needs to stretch and take the rein forward and Bertie is a little tense in the arena as he’s not quite up to counter canter and medium trot etc yet one after the other but can do it all very well separately! Imp jumped clear in the show jumping but had an annoying stop XC; he was very competent otherwise though so I was still reasonably pleased. Red jumped a beautiful double clear, he is a lovely horse and I am very lucky to have him, 1 for the future… Bertie is just brilliant. He was a little keen in the show jumping and had a fence down going downhill, but the XC was faultless. He hasn’t run for a while and I wondered if he maybe spooky, most definitely not! He flew around, he reminds me so much of young Jasper which is very exciting. These two finished just out of the placings, a good day.

I had another good day at Munstead on Sunday with Bomber and Brian. When you take a horse to it’s first event it’s always interesting to see how they get on. Becky has done a wonderful job with Bomber in producing him as he wasn’t always able to take my ‘pressure’ which he now is. Even so I only ride him three times a week to keep him relaxed. Every horse is different and needs producing in different ways. He performed a very grown up test for 29.5 in the Open Intro section. He then jumped a good clear round sj and too XC. He was not sure to start with about leaving the others, but once we got to fence seven he was off. He is a lovely horse, a good jumper and quick too. We finished 2nd, just by 0.2 so nearly won his first event! superstar, has one more at Pulborough and then a holiday. Brian too performed a good test for a 30, he will be seriously smart on the flat soon.. He warmed up very well for the sj, but was very cheeky in the arena and ran out at the 2nd jump which felt like slow motion! He had never done that so was more than a little surprised but I think he is feeling very well and decided to have a little fun! He jumped clear otherwise but we got several time faults. I took him at a pace that suited him XC as I knew we wouldn’t be placed (I was convinced we’d win today originally!) and he was lovely, just two time faults and felt very brave. I was still pleased, if you’ve ever seen Brian you will understand why I couldn’t be, he is adorable!  A good week generally though, a few things to work on but the horses feel in good form…