Burghley disappointment but Badminton Grass Roots qualification assured for 2016.

After what has been my busiest but best season yet things have started to quieten down a little now so it's great to be able to catch up!

The last couple of months have been exceptionally busy.  September kicked off at Burghley, although it was a fabulous day out, we didn't get the dream result we would have liked.  Farah was a very good girl but after a minor injury on the Monday it looked unlikely she would go but thankfully her owners quick thinking meant we managed to get her there.  She was a bit hot because she hadn't done any preparation work that week to gain the dressage mark we would have liked.  However, she jumped her heart out on  the biggest course she has seen and definitely the most difficult, but she rose to the challenge and jumped an immaculate clear round, one of few that day.  It was quite nice to have time to walk the course, something I have never done, it was enormous! And of course there was lots of shopping!

After Burghley, it was all stations go with the showjumpers for 3 days at Bury Farm.  Ebolensky, Zaronda, Carlensky and Scylla D'Ouilly all were exceptional and all finished in the prizes in the Grand Prix.  Carlensky finished second and Scylla D'Ouilly won making it 3 wins in 3 classes in 3 days.  Scylla then went on to show how awesome and versatile she is after only two days at home we took her to Frickley park to the BE.  It was a very tough class but she excelled and won again after a brilliant dressage score of 26 and a fabulous double clear jumping.

Jumping for me then went on stand by, with nationals less than a week away it was time to focus on dressage with Dayton. I had such a good time and learnt so much in this period.  The BD nationals was a fabulous experience and I was a little disappointed not to make the top 10, particularly as Dayton was brilliant.  We both gave it 100% and I came away happy feeling that neither of us could have done any more.  The experience has definitely made me determined that I want to qualify again and work towards winning a prize next time.

The following week I was thrilled to get the jumping saddle out for the last jumping championships this season.  Ebolensky was fabulous finishing 7th in the Foxhunter Grand Prix and Zaronda gave me a top 15 finish in the 130 Grand Prix against some of the top names in the business.  I really could not have asked for better results at the end of what has been a packed season.  What is really nice is that all the horses are still running with a smile on their face and they are feeling great.

With one event left to go before my holiday I really had to keep focused, even packing for my holiday went on hold until after the event. Bishop Burton were running our final chance to qualify for Badminton Grass Roots finals.  For Dayton to qualify this final it would mean a lot to everyone involved and I didn't want to let anyone down.  After not seeing a fence for 3 months it's fair to say that he was rather excited and after have break failure on our schooling session his owner was a touch worried!  When he heard the loud speaker he was ecstatic! Luckily he held his excitement in for the dressage and posted one of our best ever scores of 23.  He jumped a scorching double clear but to keep us biting our nails we manged to collect a cross country time penalty - not because I was in my usual slow form, this time our penalty was for going to fast!! Luck was in our side though and with his dressage score being so good we finished 2nd so we are now Badminton bound in the spring! 

Scylla D'Ouilly also put in a top performance in her first BE100 run.  She finished 4th, it was definitely sack the jockey day though as I only went and forgot my dressage test, I was mortified! She is such a great jumper and flew double clear, pulling us up the order.  She has taken so well to eventing and is so reliable - I'm looking forward to campaigning her next season. 

The following morning it was such a treat to be boarding the plane and heading off with Charlie and Neil to Cyprus for 10 days of sunshine. We had a the most amazing time and loved every single minute.  It's been none stop since Charlie arrived, so it was nice to sit back and relax.  While I was away all the horses had a break and enjoyed some much deserved field time. Now Im back and ready for our winter adventures.   All the horses clipped, shod and  back in full work and my main aim over the winter is to improve my dressage.  I really would like to qualify for the regionals on some of my younger up and coming horses and then if my fairytale comes true I would love another chance at a BD nationals!! I have a couple that I think could be good enough but time will tell, if nothing else the training will help us next season and be good preparation.

Sam x

Herbie finishes in the top 10 at Aske in his first competition under international rules

Last time I wrote we were trying to get the last bit of harvesting done and I wasn’t allowed to put the heating on until we were done. Well, I’m pleased to say we got finished and I’ve now got the heating whacked up on full blast and I’m happily cooking away!

In my last blog I talked about the build up to our penultimate event of the season, the novice at Allerton Park and our final event of the season, the CIC1* at Aske. I’m pleased to say that both went pretty well!

Having moved Herbie up to novice earlier in the season, he took a couple of events to establish himself but he really came into his own towards the end. He was second at Richmond and then followed that up with a 6^th at Allerton Park. This proved great preparation for the 1* and we headed up to Aske knowing we’d done all we could. It was my first event under international rules and was a mixture of being both exciting and daunting! We decided to stable up at Aske so as to take off the pressure and give Herbie a nice easy night without having to travel back and forth. We did our dressage on the Friday and it was truly fabulous to ride in a long arena in my tailcoat! We did a good test, I managed all of the sitting trot and Herbie really stayed with me. I loved riding up the centre line in all my gear and breathing it all in. My aim was to post a score in the 40’s so a 48.4 to leave us in 10^th place was great.

Mum and I then made Herbie comfy for the night, grabbed some tea and bedded down for the night, knowing we had a busy day ahead of us! Saturday started with showjumping and the tricky course on undulating ground was causing plenty of problems. Herbie jumped his little socks off but unfortunately managed to lower two poles (one of them being the last fence which I’m taking full responsibility for!), this said, it was a tough course and 2 down round our first track of that size was a good result. Then for the cross country!

I’d walked the course with my long time trainer (and general mentor!), Zoe Rymer. She had given me a clear idea of what I needed to do although I do admit to a quick dash to her lorry for some last minute advice when I heard the course was causing so many problems! Fences 4 and 17 were proving particularly influential so it was nice to leave the start box knowing exactly what I needed to do. Herbie was brilliant! He flew round, listening to me when he needed to and giving me lots of confidence that he knew the job. He found the increase in height, technicality and distance well within his capabilities and I’m not ashamed to say I had a lump in my throat when we crossed the finish line!

This solid performance meant we squeezed into the top 10 (in 10^th place!). A top 10 finish in our first competition under international rules gave me a great end to a great season.

We then quickly slotted in a visit to a dressage competition to secure our qualification for the winter regionals (not till Feb 2016) before he had his shoes taken off. He is now enjoying time in the field, telling our little foal, Ginny Rumber all about his eventing adventures….I hope she’s listening carefully!

Thank you to Nick Gill for the photographs.

Lucie