Things here have been seriously manic - you know your
busy when everyday starts at 5am and finishes at 10pm.
After the
high of winning at Bramham, winning the regional on Carlensky and qualifying
Ebolensky for the masters I didn't think this year could get any better
but with lots of work and a touch of luck my form continued...
We had a
few training shows to re group and bring out some new faces, these all went to
plan and with a few wins and placings I felt ready for my next qualifier which
was the BYEH 4y/o with new ride Joanne Pullan's Coon Freddie. In fairness
the plan at Richmond was to introduce Freddie to the class format and find what
needed more work before our final qualifier at Ryedale later in the month but
he was such a star that he qualified after finishing in 3rd place.
Admittedly I felt like there were lots of improvements needed but at least
our ticket was secure!
Back then to showjumping and off to South View for another newcomers regional. There were hundreds of entries and the course was rather poor so with lots through to the last round it was a super fast class and even from the last draw we didn't stand a chance. I felt a little disappointed after this, I really didnt think qualifying was going to be possible. Although we had another two chances, I thought that the rest of the qualifiers would be like this and Ebolensky is so scopey, we have always taken the very best care to produce her property so she doesn't know how to blast round, but I figured all I could do was give it our best shot.
The
following day saw the pink cross country colours getting their first real
outing at Buckminster and marking the start of my eventing campaign for 2016.
The day wasn't enjoyable, it rained so heavy from start to finish that we
considered withdrawing, we managed a good dressage and considering the
conditions Dayton didn't do badly just to have a couple down. After much
thought we did cross country and as always Dayton skipped round and I felt the
experience will benefit him in the future, he eventually finished 9th so I
really couldn't complain as many were unlucky either not to complete or even
get started.
Addington
Manor for another newcomers regional was our next destination but I have to
admit to not feeling confident about our chances; the class was huge again with
over 100 entries and all I could envisage was the race the last one turned
into. I could not have been more wrong, the course was super and very
tricky which suited me and Ebolensky perfectly, with only a dozen in the last
round and a good draw I started to feel excited, when the first third of the
jump off hadn't managed a clear round things started to get tense. A
couple of rides before me a competitor finally went clear but I was confident
his time was beatable but when the competitor immediately before me went round
like a rocket, I decided to try and not catch the speed demon but to try and
beat the slower round. With two tickets on offer 2nd was all I needed
and, Ebolensky was unreal. We had a tense moment at the second to last
when we ran a bit deep but she got her wings out and flew down to the last and our
time was good enough. Watching the last couple or riders was nerve
wracking but when I knew I had qualified I couldn't stop smiling. As
always, this is the most prestigious final I will ever have competed in.
To ride at HOYS is any riders dream and I've been lucky enough to do it
in a smaller amateur class in the past with Tomara but to be going back in a
professional class is just a fabulous feeling.
Celebrations
had to go on hold as the following day was the Somerford dressage regionals
with Dayton and Billionaire Z. Dayton was first up and admittedly I felt a
little handicapped by our gold league status. Although we are established
now at this level to ride against some of the country's top professionals is
always tough. We finished in the top third of the class in 7th place, and
as always he was a superstar but the competition was tough so I felt our result
was very creditable. Billionaires class was also a tough one with lots of
entries and as I trotted into the ring Barry showed he was all man by growing a
full hand in excitement at the electric atmosphere, 'oh my god' is all I could
think he is always so grounded and rideable that I've never felt the hot headed
side of him but credit to him when the bell rang he put his game face on and
danced round the arena to gain a great plus 70% score and lead for almost the
whole class. After 6 hours of nail biting waiting we were just pipped
into second place but that was good enough for our national qualification, when
I first sat on this gorgeous boy my aim was to get him to nationals and to tick
that box is seriously awesome.
A
slightly quite week for some more re grouping followed and as we had picked up
our tickets to most of the championships we had entered we decided to withdraw
from a few shows and give the horses to chill time. Ryedale started our next
busy week, a catch ride for the day Alison Brown's Penny Farthing gave me a
lovely ride to finish 5th. Considering I only sat on him once before the
show his performance was lovely and a real credit to how brilliant his owner
has produced him from being a foal. We decided that the experience of the show
would do Coon Freddie good and another time in the ring under the class format
would help us in his Burghley preparation. He finished 3rd again but his
performance was much stronger and I feel with a few more tweaks we are almost
ready for the final.
Frickley
BE was next, after a disappointing dressage which is uncharacteristic for D,
which I put down to his lack of warm up, he went on to jump his best ever, so
we decided we needed to have a play with a new braking system and it worked,
we did a lovely double clear. It was upsetting that we weren't up
to scratch in the dressage but also thrilling to do our first double clear at
BE100 level and we felt well set up for our first Badminton qualifier the
following week. I also ran two young horses at Frickley for their first events;
Overwater Emi was a good girl, she was very shell shocked in the showjumping
and the torrential downpour didn't help us much but a super cross country clear
meant she finished just outside the top 10. With a few bits to work on
before our next run I feel she is quite an exciting young prospect. Susannah
Franks exceptionally talented pony Charlie stormed round to finish 10th, he is
such a cool dude and he is a very serious future prospect. A quick change
around at home and we headed up to Burgham with Ebolensky; she was great.
On the first day she was 3rd in what ended up a tough 130 class and on
the second day she won the foxhunter. Her next stop now is the national
championships. It was also successful for the horses left at home, one of
the horses I had had in for training went to the event at Frickley and put up
its personal best performance with leading scores, so it was a good job done
for me and smiles all round.
After all
the craziness I decided a day off was in order so Neil and Charlie and I headed
off to the Yorkshire Wildlife Park, I can highly recommend it. We had a
great time and then on to Frankie and Benny's for tea to finish the day.
This
weekend was an easy one with only having Dayton at Skipton for the Badminton
qualifier. Luckily he didn't let me down but I almost let him down when I
made an error in my test. Luckily the rest of the work was so good we
still finished third so next year we are going to Badminton in the 100 final.
A blow out on the lorry on the way home didn't spoil our celebrations
although we were all exhausted by the time we got home after our 4am start.
This
month is not quite as busy but very important with all the horses getting ready
for their national championships. I'm hoping that Coon Freddie will
pick up his ticket to the Osberton Young Event horse championships but we will
have to see how we go, it's still early days for us and he's still very young,
I'm sure I will have plenty to tell you next month, here's to hoping it's all
good news!!
