FAREWELL TO MY STABLE STAR

September 2014

A lot has happened since my last Fulmart Feeds blog, most notably, we have sold Alfie. I still can’t believe it. I have spent the past 4 years saying ‘we will never sell him’ and referring to him as ‘Alfie the Wonder Horse’! It was such a heart breaking decision and one that mum and I did not take lightly. We bought him as a very green 4 year old and in that time have progressed through BE90s, BE100s and up to Novice level with some fabulous results along the way. These include winning the BE 90 Regional Final and ending up 11^th at the Badminton Grassroots Championships and numerous other wins and placings. He really is a true amateur’s fun horse so we made the decision to let him go and have lots of fun being a super star for someone else! A friend said to me that sometimes in life the right decisions aren’t necessarily the easy ones and I think they were right!

For now this means I can concentrate on Herbie who I believe has lots of potential and hasn't always had the training he needs as I have been splitting my time between both horses whilst also juggling my job.  Herbie’s first outing since Alfie’s departure was last weekend where he did the BE100+ at Frickley Hall. This means novice level dressage, novice level showjumping and BE100 level cross country. It’s a good opportunity for horses to be stretched in the first two phases but then have an easier cross country round before moving up to Novice properly. Herbie performed really well with a fab dressage of 29.5, 2 down showjumping and clear cross country inside the time. Although he had 2 fences down in the showjumping I was pleased with him as he is still developing in this phase and with the fences considerably bigger than BE100 I felt he coped really well.   

Next stop is my last regional final on Herbie (at Aske) and then probably one more event before finishing the season. I also have a cross country lesson with Nicola Wilson on Monday at Allerton Park which I’m really looking forward to and will give me the chance to test Herbie out over a bigger track.

Finally, our brood mare was at the Stud this week for her final scan before Winter which all went well, we were told her foal is currently the size of a cat which makes me very excited indeed!!

Best wishes,

Lucie

BURGHLEY YOUNG EVENT HORSE COMPETITION LEAVES SAM SPEECHLESS

September 2014

What a month!

We had our first stay out in the lorry at the British showjumping Scope Festival. The week didn't start as planned, Cornets Steal was shell shocked in the huge arena in the first qualifier and then the next day it was rained off.  Luckily it was '3rd time lucky' and we won a 3rd prize in the second qualifier which qualified us for the championship.   Cornet's Steal jumped a super round and although no prizes finished in the top 20 4y/o in the country.

Richmond was next and my first ever BE Novice on Carol Elton's Penhill Promising Vision, it was also his first attempt.  We were definitely respectable but lots to work to do for next season after having 2 poles down showjumping and a clear XC but a few time penalties.  Dayton, on the other hand was not such a good boy; after a perfect dressage and XC a stupid spook showjumping resulted in a pole down leaving us in 5th!

Burghley came next and what an awesome day!  It was my first ever ride in this final riding against very strong competition.  I am never speechless but this was a first - it was overwhelming to win and the biggest win of my career so far.  Rachael Evison's Ebolensky was just a superstar, even though she showed her exuberance in the lorry park before the class! My own Cornets Steal was great again in the 4y/o section just missing the top 10 by half a mark and to complete the day one of my former horses Fullham, owned by Sharon Bayston and ridden by Rosalind Canter won the 4y/o.  Our celebrations lasted all weekend! 

I've had a few days away from the yard this month.  The first was a visit to my first ever Futurity grading with Kate Betteridge and her lovely foal Jorvik Star.  "Joey" as he's known at home was awarded elite status and went on to be the highest placed foal in the country.

Like most people with horses, weekends away are far and few between but we did manage to grab a weekend in London sight seeing with a little bit of shopping, but just had to finish the day off watching at Global Champions Tour. 

The next few weeks I will be spending time breaking some of our babies for next year.  Two are coming along well but my favorite is fast becoming my nightmare, she just doesn't seem to like me as much once I'm in the saddle!

That's it for this month.

Sam