Gracelands British Show Jumping & Worms - yuk!!!

Took all 3 brothers to jump at Gracelands today, it's been a beautiful sunny day with clear blue skies and it was great to be out show jumping.

All the boys jumped well with all of them going clear in their first round, meaning they had to go back in to jump off. I like Gracelands as the smaller arena means horses (and me) have to think and react quickly but also they always run classes A7 so you go back in again for the jump off round. At around £12 a class this presents super value for money, the old fashioned way of going back in for a jump off means young horses get a break and I get chance to think on how I can improve from the first round.

It certainly did Twilight good as he was much calmer for the jump off, in his initial 90 cm round he was over excited, fast and manic. Top Gun won £18 with a 3rd place and Hartpury Take It 2 The Top jumped in the 1m Discovery to finish 2nd winning £20. Hartpury Take It 2 The Top felt amazing, it was his first jumping outing since Aldon and he feels stronger and more balanced. Twilight went on to jump a lovely double clear in the 1m. I came home smiling!!!!

Look at Gracelands super Union Jack rosettes.

 Below is Diva, one of my new foals and the horrid picture is a selection of some of the worms that came out of her! When I buy foals I never ask if they have been wormed, I just worm them anyway. 18 years ago when I bought Toby Two Tone as a foal the lady said she had wormed him but within a week of  me owning him he was on a drip in the vets and he almost died. It was small red worm infestation, his belly swelled up and began leaking fluid, something to do with the breakdown of his red blood cells. Luckily he survived and went on to be one of my best XC horses jumping endless clears. He is still going strong and is now a super pony club Tetrathlon horse, he has been to the PC Tet champs at Hartpury numerous times with his new owners Jack and Alice Harper.

Worms 

are from left - a pound coin!, large roundworm(she had around 20 of these huge ones) , next is possibly pin worms, then bots, I think then are large red worms and last the killer small red worms.

Update On Trefeinon Icon

My lovely Icon is now retired to the hunting field. He is with ex 4* Badminton rider Josephine Challens. He is loving it and jumping some huge hedges and gates etc.

Unfortunately he managed to run a thorn into his leg out hunting last Friday so will miss the Christmas meets, but will be back out early in the new year.

Here is a utube video taken by Alice Pearson and her head cam, Icon is the brave horse (white stripe on his face) that still jumps the first hedge despite Alice crashing into him as he he taking off. Dramatic!

After the crash Alice then follows behind Icon for a while, it's nice to see him galloping and having fun. I am trying to work out which of her horses Alice is hunting but I can't find one on her BE record called You Little Ship!!!!!

Summerhouse Dressage and The New Babies Arrive

Had a fab day at Summerhouse Dressage today, I took Twilight and Take It To The Top. Came home with around £30 worth of prize vouchers with a 1st, a 2nd and 2x 3rds.

Pictures are all of the new yearlings and Beetle the new foal. I love the one of Beetle taking in his new surroundings from the cattle lorry. They have all settled in really well and travelled beautifully for the 3 hour trip from Dorset. I am already very impressed with their attitude, Wizard who is Midnight Dazzlers nephew (Harry Meads 4* horse) is exceptionally bold and brave. Sprout is super friendly and also moves and jumps beautifully. Beetle is just gorgeous in every way. He is a very grown up foal, I am so excited about them all. Beetle was turned out in the school the other morning while I was mucking out, I was amazed when I spotted him jumping the water tray all on his own. 

A Blog Post from A Rider I Coach

Stella Baylis Eventing Training Bursary

As the year is nearly out I wanted to do a little update as a thank you to Stella for awarding me a training bursary for this year.  I was completely flabbergasted to be given this; in fact I thought Stella was having me on to start with, as I never win anything, ever!  After the initial shock, excitement set in at the prospect of being able to have regular lessons and support and I began eagerly making plans for the season for Charlie and I.

With Stella’s help, we worked very hard to have Charlie ready for the start of the season.  This paid off as we weren’t out of the top 10 at BE90 in all our events until June!  I couldn’t really believe this either – it is such a good feeling when hardwork comes to fruition, and not one I’d been used to with my old horse.  In June we decided Charlie was ready to upgrade, so he did his first BE100 at Stonar School.  Unfortunately it was a hot day with awful horse flies, so naughty Charlie spent most of his dressage test in the air bucking.   I wasn’t really that bothered though, as I was so pleased with the way he jumped – one unlucky show jump down but he flew round the cross country – fab!

But as I’d feared, our good luck couldn’t possibly last.  We had a bit of an accident out hacking early in the morning the day before Stafford - Charlie spooked uncharacteristically at a surprise scarecrow and span fast dumping me on a hard track.  I was winded and had hurt my back, but I was more worried that he had galloped off.  I followed the skid marks on the road, and eventually found him at home – he had galloped all the way home several miles down the road.  Very luckily, he was fine and didn’t have a mark on him, though he had pulled his back too, and upset himself in his mind – which I didn’t realise the full extent of until after our next few eventingoutings which were nothing to write home about. As Charlie is a sensitive soul I spent some time getting him back to his normal cocky self – and then let him down by going to pieces at our first Regional Final at Sapey.  Charlie had been on flying form in the week before the event, but on the day my nerves got the better of me and we were eliminated in the show jumping after I completely shut him down – one day I will learn not to put so much pressure on myself!  Irritatingly I went back to school there a couple of days later and he flew round the lot on autopilot – it just goes to show how much of an effect show day nerves can have on you!

After that I was so, so cross I was determined to sort myself out!  We contested another RF at West Wilts jumping double clear, but sadly our dressage of 33 wasn’t good enough to qualify for Badminton Grassroots.  I can’t be too disappointed as some of the horses in these regional finals are career grassroots horses with years of experience.  Plus, as hard as he tries, Charlie is never going to be a flashy warmblood!  Earlier in the year I was arguing with Stella that I didn’t want to try and qualify anyway, as in some ways I think Badminton should be proper Badminton (as in 4* Badminton, not Grassroots).  I do think that still, but of course I’d have liked to have gone to Grassroots really!

So with the pressure off it was nice to enjoy the end of the season – Charlie learnt a lot about competing in the mud at Weston Park coming 11th in the BE90.  It was so muddy I was adamant I was going to withdraw thinking Charlie would never cope in the conditions, but Stella told me he would be fine nd as usual she was right!  We then finished the year on a high with an 8th place in the BE100 at Broadway.  

I think at some points this year perhaps I forgot that I event for fun – I am never going to be as good as the pro’s, riding every different type of horse, day in, day out.  I am a true amateur with one horse, no facilities at home, no family ferrying me around the country, a busy full time job and several part time jobs.  But rather than getting the violins out, that what I love about it – when I do well it’s because I’ve worked HARD!  And that’s far more satisfying.

Stella’s help this year has been totally invaluable – I have learnt a massive amount about my riding, and also about riding a completely different type of horse.  She helped me choose Charlie when I was looking for another horse, so it’s been great to be able to bring him on from scratch under her guidance.  I’m so lucky to have had the support of the training bursary – to have regular lessons has made a huge difference to me.  Charlie has also come on so much – he’s now a little powerhouse, rather than the scrawny gangly 4 year old I bought.  I am a bit sad that this has come to an end, but I always have my beautiful rug and lovely jacket to remind me of what a fantastic opportunity Stella gave me.

Now I can’t wait for 2014, roll on March!

Thank you Stella!

Louise and Charlie

Solihull Show Jumping BS

Hartpury Twilight and Hartpury Top Gun both went to Solihull BS today. They jumped really well and we even came home with prize money. I was particularly pleased with Hartpury Twilight who coped extremely well with a very busy warm up arena and then went into the ring to jump a super clear with not a single moment of hesitation or a single spook.

We are due to collect our new horses soon they are all boys and as follows

One yearling out of Midnight Dazzlers sister by Catherston Gold Storm.
Another yearling out of Carling Kings sister by a son of Primitive Rising.
Plus a foal also really well bred being out of the daughter of a 2* mare also by Catherston Gold Storm.

They all move really well and have level kind temperaments, they have been handled enough that if I turn them out I will be able to catch them again but not so much that they have been turned into daft pets. It's always hard buying horses in the rough, straight out of the field, but luckily I took Ant along with me, he is an expert at spotting good confirmation and movement hiding inside a woolly pony!

Horse shopping

We have been down south this week shopping for young stock. Seen some lovely young horses, all really well bred and all with super temperaments. One thing we are particular about is that they are out of good mares. The mare seems to have a bigger influence on her stock than the stallion. Jackie Skelton tells me they are 80% mare! Maybe it's because they learn from their mothers in addition to inheriting her genes! Jackie should know, she has bred numerous 4* horses and one 4* human!
Will update this blog in a few days with news of which young horses we have purchased.

Allens Hill Xmas ODE

I always love this event, it's all run on an arena but I still feel a little bit like we are eventing. As I had 3 horses entered I managed to persuade Ant to come along. When he climbed into the lorry to leave home he had even packed our usual eventing picnic basket. Not packed quite as full as for real Eventing though!

I had a fab day, not one jumping fault on any of my 3 rides, they all finished on their dressage scores.
Emma Potter who I train scored a 23 dressage and one rail lowered to finish 2nd in the 90cm.
My horses scores were as follows.

Rif Raf 7th in the 75cm on a 33.
Hartpury Twilight 1st in the 90cm on a 25.
Hartpury Top Gun 1st in the 100 on a very smart score of  23.
The two brothers also had a fab day on Saturday where they had a 2nd and a 1st at Hill View Arenas dressage show. Need real Eventing to start now and it's still ages to go...

Summerhouse - The last Tues Show Jumping of 2013

It was ice cold when my alarm went off, the heating doesn't turn itself on until 7 am. By 7am I had mucked out 6, loaded 3 and was off down the road towards Gloucester, leaving Ant at home tucked up fast asleep under the duvet.

The biggest achievement of my day was coping with 3 horses on my own with none of them getting loose in the lorry park!

Rif Raf jumped a clear in the 85 cm, she confidently bustled her way round like a jolly old hockey sticks 1950s school prefect! She's probably the most advanced 3 year old I have ever had!

Hartpury Twilight also felt super confident almost jumping me off several times in the 90 cm, hope he curtails his jump a little when it's time to go XC, especially for drop fences! 

Top Gun jumped amazing in the 1m, the fastest time in the jump off and double clear, it was a shame he was let down by me. I thought I had got lost in the first round but hadn't, I pulled up to change course then realised I was correct, this slowed us down and although clear it gave us 4 time faults. 

It's not even December yet and all 3 horses are jumping well up to the level they need to be doing when Eventing begins in March, so next we need to do some dressage💤

Hartpury BSJA

I took HartpuryTwilight along to Hartpury for the Area 41 affiliated show jumping, an event not actually ran by the College. I left Top Gun at home as he had an appointment in the afternoon with a potential purchaser. However while. I was at Hartpury I had a text to say they were not coming after all so he could have show jumped instead!

There were 60 in the classes and waiting took hours and hours, I sat with an eventing friend of mine wondering why on earth BS can't do times, I mean Eventing manage it for 300 competitors doing 3 different phases in a day, and sometimes 300 per day for 3 or 4 days so why can't BS manage that for one phase.

Twilight jumped really well, he is only 4 and has yet to have a fence down. He was spooky of the water tray in the jump off of the British Novice. He just skipped past it snorting, and off course two skips past in BSJA you are out with no third attempt, home work required with water trays. Everyone agreed it was very mean to put a water tray in a Novice class.

I wanted to jump a bigger class on him so jumped him in his first ever Discovery, just the first round, once again he did not touch a pole (wow he is so talented and such an easy canter) It was a shame to have to withdraw from the jump off  but the water tray was involved and an affiliated event is not the place to go into battle with a baby horse.

Sunny November - Hill View Arena

It has been the most glorious sunny day today. I was up early hacking out Hartpury Twilight under the stunning blue sky. We had a super relaxing hack, well deserved as yesterday he won  his first £ BSJA when he finished 2nd in a British Novice.
Next Ant and I were booked to help one of my customers with loading a pony, they had been trying to load it for 16 months and after another 4 hour session yesterday called us, desperate for some assistance. Loading is a bit of a speciality of ours, after 10 minutes the pony was happily walking in and out of its trailer. I am not convinced we have cured it, as it's a clever yet stubborn pony, but its a step in the right direction.

This afternoon I took 3 year old Rif Raf (pictured) to Hill View Arena www.hillview.myzen.co.uk
This venue is becoming really popular, they have a set of lovely jumps and the courses have improved over the last 12 months. Its a super venue which has really good facilities, perfect arena surfaces and friendly organisers. The dressage competitions here are also really well presented with proper white boards and good judges. They have recently added a sheltered spectator viewing area and the cafe is really popular.

The busy atmosphere was a lot to ask of a young horse, lots of ponies and small children whizzing about, loads of spectators too, but really good experience for her. Rif Raf behaved perfectly and went on to jump a super round with just 1 rail down.

November End of Season Update

It's my least favourite month gloomy November so it helps a lot that its been a fab season, especially finishing with a 12th in a CCI*. During the summer I have also been lucky to sell a few of the horses to some really nice people, which means I can concentrate on turning the ones I have kept from superstars into megastars!! Sweet William is doing really well in his new home and I have some lovely emails and photos (see below) from Joanne his new owner. She was thrilled to bits to score 64% at their first dressage show. Amazing Mika my superstar 15.2 home bred I sold in the spring has recently qualified for the pony club Denji ridden by his new owner Poppy, they seem to be winning rosettes every time they compete him.

Riders I coach have had a super season too, Anna Millington is ready for Novice next season, Louise on Arleys Champagne Charlie, pictured below in front of Weston Park House, finished her season with a top ten place in a 100 and is also looking towards Novice in 2014, Sue on Rasper qualified for a regional final so we can spend the winter dreaming of watching her at Badminton 2015!

In addition a few riders I coach are working towards their first ever BE event in 2014 and a few more are planning to start unaffiliated eventing next spring. An exciting new partnership for 2014 is Becky Amos on Annie Oakley. 4 year old Annie is showing signs of being something very special indeed and will be aimed at BE90 next year.

I have registered all my boys BSJA (or BS as it's confusingly called now, I thought BS stood for British Steel or British Standard, I googled BS and it's embarrassing what it means in the urban dictionary!) Top Gun jumped really well in his first newcomers this week and 4 year old Twilight felt superb jumping double clear in his first BS British Novice.
Here is a photo of Nolton Tobago who I sold several years ago, he is still eventing successfully with the same people and has just won a Petplan Open Novice Dressage Championship.

Aldon CCI* with Hartpury Take It 2 The Top

Thanks to Aldon for an outstanding event

TROT UP
Our Thursday trot up vet inspection began with panic, there had been an accident on the motorway at 6am, we met the queue at 2pm, some people had been stationary for many hours. We tried to find a detour but all minor roads were blocked solid with traffic, so we turned back to the motorway. We were not held for too long luckily and arrived with 20 mins to spare.
DRESSAGE
I thought Monty's dressage felt like a disaster, he spooked badly at the flowers in both his counter canters, so to me they felt dreadful. Then in the halt to rein back he transfixed his gaze on a piece of farm machinery in a distant hedge, I asked him to rein back using my seat, but he had turned into a giraffe statue with his ears high up, level with my top hat, I could feel his heart pounding with fear, I resorted to a tug on the rein, he responded with a moonwalking backwards shuffle. We finished with a good halt and I left the arena feeling gloomy, but when I foundAnthony afterwards he was thrilled, he said the test was stunning. As usual Ant was right and Monty went into 13th place on a 47! Wooohooo! Suddenly I liked dressage a teeny bit more.
XC
The course was superb and extremely technical, we had to jump directly into both waters, no option, the first was a hanging log, a big ask for a 6 year old I thought. The 2nd water began with some upright white rails one stride and a brush drop into the water, 3 strides to a skinny in the water and then (gulp) a decent corner on a tight turn on the way out.
An early problem fence was an abc. A and C were both upright skinnies on steep downward slopes with B a big step down, this caused several riders to fault. Monty just steamed through it, my biggest problem was anchoring him on the very steep hillside down to it. My idea of a suitable pace was not his and he clearly disagreed with me, pulling my arm muscles so hard they felt like jelly and it was only fence 7!
He felt foot perfect all the way round, clear inside the time, Bill Levett said he is a machine XC and now I know what he means. He was hardly blowing afterwards. We were in 8th place overnight and it was a fab feeling knowing I have a horse so good in 2 phases.
SHOW JUMPING
Surprisingly I had almost no nerves for this phase at all. All I hoped for was a qualifying result for CCI 2* so that's no more than 4 down, oh and I couldn't fall off or forget the course. Monty jumped fab, just 2 rails fell and we finished in 12th, he won 2 BE points and an FEI point and yey we got our qualifying place too.

A fab end to the season and what a super horse he looks like being for the future.
Pictures are Monty dressage, jumping and my dog Sweep modelling some of the fences, skinny is missing from the water as it was removed for the Intermediate and fence 7 abc is pictured from the landing looking back up the hill.

Weston Park BE100 open

Love eventing at Weston Park, always super courses that need bold riding. Today's BE100 track was a championship course, it was built for the BE100 under 18 champs. It was more like a Novice with two waters including a log drop into the 2nd water with a corner after it, a proper coffin with upright rails on one stride to  a huge ditch and a skinny on a turn after, the 1st water had two skinnies on a turn before it and an easier fence on a tight turn after. The general mood in the lorry park was a bit soggy, it was pouring with rain and everything was getting wet and muddy. The warm up areas were well used with 65 under 18 competitors going round before our class began, the ground looked like it was deteriorating with the wet weather. I kept my warm ups to a minimum. A 27 dressage put us in 2nd but a SJ rail down dropped us down.

Having said all that the XC rode fantastic, its amazing how good the going felt. The time was tight but Top Gun flew and made the time easily, he was the quickest of the day (30 seconds inside) and finished in 5th place. Riders I coach did well too in the 90. Louise on Arleys Champagne Charlie finishing 10th and Emma on All About Albert in 9th, all our horses coped fabulously well in the mud and I think we were all very grateful for the boggy wet patches that appear in my school when it rains a lot! We also are very fortunate to live on very wet common which is our swampy winter hacking land.
Weston were really quick with prize giving and I arrived back at the lorry with an armful of Blue Chip goodies, including some liquid garlic feed additive that stunk the lorry out on our way home. That's Top Guns last run of the year he was entered for Broadway but he is wait listed so I have withdrawn as he is a fair way down the list, so we are off show jumping instead.

Osberton cic* British 6 year old champs

Great news Hartpury Take It 2 The Top went clear round his 1st International event, the cic* at Osberton. This class was the 6 year old championships which mean it was a Championship track with several fences shared with the 2* course. Two riders had horse falls and I was relieved Monty completed with confidence maintained and lots learned. With a championship place at stake some riders went for the time with several near misses out on XC. Monty had a few time faults but was foot perfect taking all the quick routes, apparently the commentary said some lovely things about how he went round. There were lots of skinnies on curving lines, a tricky step out of the water, a proper old fashioned coffin with a huge ditch and some real big galloping fences. Monty's dressage was as good as he can give at the moment and he had just 2 rails show jumping. It was quite a family affair as Hartpury Sky Is The Limit finished 2nd and Lils Unlimited Lass 14th, both these horses are by the same sire as Monty - Take It 2 The Limit who is owned by Hartpury College.  

Todays result means Monty is now qualified for a cic**, which will be useful for next years calendar. Oh and

just for fun Anthony couldn't resist taking the below photo.....now if he was training me I would have won.............

Moreton Morrell Eventing

I had Hartpury Take It 2 The Top going amazing outside in the warm up, we trotted off towards our arena hoping the judge was prepared to get ready with her 8s and 9s. That was until we entered and halted and Monty decided it was then he would like to show the judge his excellent rein back, "NO Monty" I gave him a kick forward he shot into canter and the rest of the test went downhill from there!!!! He was still half way after dressage though. The show Jumping was more like an Intermediate track, lots of related distances on curving  lines, a treble and a double and a huge triple bar right off the corner on a curving line to the last upright. Monty jumped well but had both fences down right where the arena party were sat, he spooked at them both times.

Xc was not really challenging enough for him, or maybe I have ridden this track too many times, it felt like an intro, the only real challenge being the water which was fun to ride with a carved skinny fish to jump in the middle of it.

I used my stop watch on him for the first time today and he made the time easily. The outing gave our confidence a good boost to have another clear before he goes Eventing Internationally, and a reminder to practise my test on grass before his next outing.

Hartpury Top Gear Longreining Video

warning - this may make u smile:)

A super photo from Monmouth

Hartpury Take It 2 The Top finishing in 6th place at Monmouth Novice, double clear. I am still buzzing with the ride he gave me can't wait until his next run. Photo by kind permission of www.agcphotography.com 

Hartpury Take It 2 The Top - happy days

Monty went fabulous at Monmouth today (love this event it's so friendly and a super challenging course) he scored 25 in the dressage and clear SJ. He gave me one of the best rides XC I probably have ever had, he is so easy to a fence, the jumping stride is just right there whether I am galloping or in a slower gear. Came home smiling lots. I think he finished in the top ten but we had to leave to be home to shut Ants chickens in before it got dark enough for the fox to eat them. Top Gun nipped round the 100 to finish 10th, sadly Top Gun is due to be sold soon, he is entered up for the rest of the season but should appear on horsequest later this week if I can get some photos and videos organised.

Crunchie sold - Malvern Horse Sales - prices were good

My homebred 4 year old Crunchie behaved perfectly at the busy sale, I rode him through the crowds of people like he was an old police horse. I had booked Shaun to ride him early in the jumping ring so I could talk to any interested customers and show them his pictures etc.

Shaun had several to ride for other people so Crunchie next had a rest and spent some time in the stable, customers often like to see them nice and quiet in the stable as well as ridden so I always try and make time to show them ridden and stabled. Crunchie behaved like he had been stabled at a busy show all his life, bless him it was his only second time at a show.

Then I tacked him up and this time I rode him. I schooled him showing off his lovely paces and jumped some fences and then stood him about chatting to people while he nodded off.

The sale itself went well, we had several people interested in him so the bidding was pretty fast at first, we were pleased with the price he made of £1,900 which was slightly above the £1,500 we had expected from the recent sale prices. He has also gone to some lovely people on a farm where the long term aim will be to compete him in county workers. I stayed to help load him as they had a trailer, he's only ever been in my lorry, he loaded first time without question, what a good boy, I left him happily munching his haynet. It will be fab to see how he progresses. Pictures below from when he was a few hours (umbilical cord to prove it) and a few weeks old.

Rif Raf at her first show.

She was so good, clever lady, not phased by the warm up or the spooky advert banners, sj jumped really well with just one pole down. Anthony came to video as proof and made annoying jokes like "You must have got up really early to get her that clean AND deliver the milk" huh what a cheek!

She is by the same stallion as Icon and also 4 * horse Mr Potts and she has his look in her ears and eyes and she, just like Icon, loves to jump.She is out of my good event/show jumping mare Butterfly who also bred Mister Bojangles and Amazing Mika. Exciting.

Crunchie for sale utube movie

Here is my home bred 4 year old Credit Crunch Christmas jumping at home, there is also a video on utube of him on the flat too. He is entered for The Malvern Festival of The Horse sales tomorrow. He moves really well and could make a very good dressage horse or perhaps a hunter. He is 4 in December so is obviously still fairly green but he did come 4th at his first combined training event. He is too chunky for me to go top level eventing on but should make a nice all rounder one day.

He was an unexpected foal as our colt got into the field with his mum! Further down the blog there are photos of him and if you go right back you will find photos of him as a foal with his mum.

His breeding is as follow

Dam Josie Jump who currently hunts with the Ledbury. Josie Jump is by Token of Honour out of a Romany Rye mare.

Sire - he is believed to be Man Friday xi great grand sire is Miley. 
Man Friday xi is a very successful grassroots eventer who we sold last year.

Burghley at its Best

I was up at 5 am Saturday to help load around 50 chickens into crates for Anthony to take to a Chicken Show at Moreton In The Marsh. Once I had mucked the horses out I set off to Burghley it was XC day and I was supporting Louise Harwood, they had sent me a stable pass in case extra help was needed on their big day. Her 4* horse Mr Potts is homebred and by the same stallion as Icon and also my 3 year old Rif Raf .

 I arrived at their lorry in glorious sunshine and a fabulous day out began right there. Jackie and Louise allocated me the job of extra groom for the day and I was given the appropriate arm band so I could help with Potts etc. He was due a morning hack so once we had tacked him up and Louise was on board, I had some spare time so went off to walk the course. It looked huge, the undulations making it tougher still. I returned to the lorry stating it looked fine and Potts would do it easy, he's an amazing and experienced jumper and Louise is a very bold XC rider.

We went off to the riders TV tent to watch the first hour of XC. Right next to XC start, 8 huge TVs in a slightly stuffy tent, it was filled to the brim with the worlds top event riders. The atmosphere was tense and electric as we watched how the course was riding. As the first rider made her way round the course the riders clapped as she cleared each fence, a huge cheer went up as she jumped the last. A clear round was achievable and she had made it look easy. The more we watched the more rideable it looked although the Discovery Valley was causing some mishaps and a few uncomfortable moments even for some of those jumping it clear.

Next it was time to get Potts ready...

Once he was tacked up Louise headed off to one of the several warm up areas. Jackie along with Louise's husband Greg took everything we needed up to XC start, while I helped Louise with the practice fences. Potts was awesome and looking incredible in the warm up, very accurate,bold and neat.

Once Louise had set off XC we dived into the riders TV tent to watch her ride a fabulous clear round. There were some nail biting moments, Potts chipped in a stride at the Discovery Valley (as had many others) and he got a little spooked under the lion bridge. Poor Jackie was having kittens, she was shouting come on Potts all the way through, by the time he got to the lion bridge and he decided it was better negotiated from trot the whole tent joined in and were shouting "Go on Potts"

As she came to the last we ran out to meet her, it was fantastic to see her smiling face elated from a super round. We speedily began to wash Potts off and untack him, we were helped by Australian team vet Graham Potts whom Potts is named after as he had been the vet who dragged the reluctant Mr Potts out of his mother all those years ago. Graham had said he was an ugly foal and Jackie replied we will name him after you then!!  I had the treat of being allowed to lead superstar Mr Potts back to the stables, he didn't take long to cool off and stop blowing, he still had a lot of spring in his step too, all the riders warming up were asking me how he had gone. Photos below are of Jackie giving her star horse a treat after his XC round and of Louise being dragged back to the stable after grazing him. He's still looking keen even after XC!
A fabulous day, fingers crossed for SJ.

Crunchie 4 Sale and other news

Top Gun finished in 6th place at Llanymynech Eventing this weekend. His consistent 20's dressage put him in a good spot and despite tipping fence 1 down in the SJ he was still able to produce a very fast XC to be joint 4th, this week his very fast time then relegated him to the lower place. The XC at Llanymynech is a big track with lots of big square stuff to jump, Top Gun loved it and it all felt too easy. 

The best news ever is I have Monty (Hartpury Take It 2 The Top) back home from Bill Levett. I have missed  him terribly and haven't stopped smiling since Bill dropped him off on Saturday. He jumped clear at another Intermediate on Friday with Bill who has done a super job with him. I am now determined to be firmer with him, Louise Harwood told me to get my brave breeches on for when he naps, so I have been looking on eBay for some but they only seem to do them in HER size!

 Here are some pictures of my homebred 4 year old 16.1 hh Credit Crunch Christmas who is entered for next weeks festival of the horse sales at Malvern. He is just too chunky to be a higher level Eventer but has good movement and careful jump for grassroots level or will make a good worker or hunter. He is still growing too as is not 4 until December. He has done one small combining training show dressage and jumping where he clear and 4th. His grandsire is Token Of Honour and he is related to Toby Two Tone, Rif Raf, Busby, Butterfly, Amazing Mika and many others I have produced in the past.

Somerford Park a very sad day

Somerford is just about my favourite event and it was good to have a run here after our spring run was snowed off. The courses here are all outstanding, beautifully built, inviting and super to ride round.
Saturday saw Top Gun doing his best to finish 4th in the open 100, not bad against advanced horses, although my 2 time faults were annoying and cost us 3rd.

Sunday we went up to watch Hartpury Take It 2 The Top with Bill Levett compete in the 1*, Monty show jumped really well with just one rail down, the atmospheric main arena was fab experience for him.

Tragically when I was out walking the course a rider in the 1* Tom Gadsby had a fatal accident jumping fence 5. There was immediate help for Tom so I caught the horse and took it back up to its lorry where I stayed to help untack him and check him over.

It was some time before we heard the terrible news that the air ambulance had taken off empty. An awful awful day and I cannot begin to imagine how his friends and family are coping. There are some lovely tributes to Tom one in particular written by Lissa Green. http://eventingnation.com/home/lissa-green-remembering-tom-gadsby.html

Broadway - Ledbury Pony Club go Area Eventing

I took on the task of training the enthusiastic Ledbury Pony Club children for their area ODE at Broadway. Several weeks of training seemed to go by in a flash, its an enormous task to train 14 of them in all 3 phases in just a few sessions, training was held every other week and not everyone could attend, due to holidays and exams etc etc. We walked the course as a group the evening before and they all walked it one more time on their own the following day. They were amazing, several had not competed in an ODE or even a dressage test  before and coped really well. There were lots of smiling faces at the end and I think we have a few new eventing addicts. Two qualified for the Pony Club Championships and several others had really good placings. I was exhausted by the end of he day running up and down Broadway Hill. I have also been training several of The Malvern Pony Club members. They also had a really good day taking home their share of the Rosettes and missing out on qualifying by one place. A huge thankyou to The Croome PC for running such a fab event and to all those who gave up their time to make it run so smoothly.

Ledbury Pony Club Mini ODE Stolen Red Ifor Williams Trailer

This was taken from Gadbury, Eldersfield, Glos. A ladies handbag was stolen during the mini ODE held there yesterday - Sunday 11th August 2013. The bag contained the keys to the car towing the trailer. With no keys the owner was forced to leave the car and trailer at the showground over night and it was during this time it was stolen. The gates to the showground were heavily padlocked and these were cut through, the trailer was forced off the cars tow hitch. The car was not taken.

The trailer contained an Ifor williams trailer grey tack box, some brand new riding boots.

If you were at the ODE and saw anything suspicious or took any photos that may help us identify vehicles or even the thieves at the show please contact West Mercia Police or email me and I will forward the information on.

Trailer is a 511 similar to the one below, with side ramp opening on the left.

Many thanks.

Win or E? Pippa Funnell At Hartpury CIC 3***

For the 2nd week running I have managed to capture another controversial piece of video. I only took my camera along with me to Gatcombe and Hartpury to video a couple of friends who were competing. I hardly took any footage at Hartpury as I decided it was looking a bit geeky! I did however geekily run to the 2nd water to get a shot of Pippa Funnell jumping through as she was leading at the time.

The rider before her knocked the flag off the skinny after the water. Pippa wasn't far behind and the judges didn't manage to either stop her or replace the flag. The missing flag was fairly significant as it also held the fence number and the letter (A) giving a thicker wing to the fence than just a single flag.

 What happened next can be seen here http://youtu.be/2Fw218-g0fY

Pippa was awarded 20 for a run out and then eliminated for continuing without representing.

The fence was not flagged and the BE rule book page 45 states all obstacles to be negotiated by the horse must be numbered or lettered accordingly. A horse is only considered to have ran out if its head and shoulders fail to pass between the flags.

Lets hope the rule book is updated so we will all know what to do if it happens to us. There is a question on the BE forum way back in 2009 which clarifies.
If a flag is missing riders should either
a) stop and ask to have the flag replaced.
b) or try and jump the jump but prepare to take the penalties if penalised for a run out.

Not jumping the fence is not an option!

More info on link below, means we will need to take our iPhones with us xc to check forum stuff like this on way round as its not in the rule book!

http://www.britisheventing.com/messages.asp?topicid=3374&section=00010001000200490001

Rif Raf & Annie Oakley XC schooling Manor Farm Glos

 Rif Raf loved it she is by Old Leighlin who is the sire of Icon and as you can imagine she just loves to jump. Also pictured is Becky on her lovely 4 yr old mare Annie Oakley who is by Ragazzo, she is half sister to John Wayne who I rode as a young horse, both girls were very brave XC,  Becky and I were thrilled to bits as it was their first outing XC. Sorry two pics the same of Rif Raf but blogger won't let me take it off!!!!!