Hi Everyone
This month has definitely been a busy one!! We kicked off
at Bramham, not only did we have a great time but it also proved a lucky venue!
Jorden Slacks lovely black mare Farah finished 3rd in the BYEH 5y/o class to
pick up her Burghley ticket, my own Cornets Steal also finished in 7th place
and Moss Farm Stud's Ginacolada was just out of the top 10 in the 4y/o. It was an amazing day, the sun
shone from start to finish and the whole family came along for a day out. We didn't have too much time to celebrate as the following day awe set off early to Church Farm with Ebolensky and Cornets Steal for the
Discovery regional final. Ebolensky was her usual exuberant self and skipped
round the 3 rounds without a puff but Cornets Steal was still feeling tired
after her day at Bramham, but being the soldier she is she pulled it out to
jump her biggest test and qualify, they finished 6th and 10th. After all the excitement it as nice to have the day
shopping and watching other competitors at Bramham on Sunday. Although it rained we still had a
lovely day, spent far to much money and enjoyed the hospitality of the
members enclosure. Spending the afternoon with Neil, Charlie and friends was a great to finish off a very successful few days at Bramham.
The following weekend was about doing the boring bit, a
full 2 days of British Dressage, at Parklands both Ginacolada and Dayton won
all their tests with scores in the 70s. Moving on to Bishop Burton a rider error
in the first test on Gina cost me a repeat so we finished with a 3rd and a 1st on
Gina. Dayton won both his tests again, earning me a nice write up in Horse
and Hound magazine and both horses qualified this years regionals. Having had a successful two days I was disappointed that my entries with Cornets Steal and
Dipinahoe hadn't been accepted for the British Novice second round at Willow Banks, which now means a 4 hour journey sometime in the next month as we aim to qualify and pick up our tickets.
Last weekend at Skipton Horse Trials saw Dayton step up to
BE100 level comfortably. We finished 7th, his dressage of 26 was good, although
I did feel he was a little wobbly on the grass in comparison to the previous
week on a surface, so we will be finding a nice field to school in for a
while! He had a pole down showjumping and then as always flew cross country,
luckily for Dayton his jockey didn't ride round with the handbrake on this time
so we finished respectably but still with plenty to work on.
It's been all change again as well, as I have finally
managed to find myself my own private yard with top class facilities and I
absolutely love it. All the horses have moved in and seem very settled. The
coming month promises to be exceptionally busy with eventing runs at
Buckminster and Frickley and the British Dressage regionals to prepare for as
well as a weekend away at Waterford Equestrian in Durham showjumping.
We have welcomed a new face to the yard, the gorgeous
little 4y/o Grandioos aka Olly, he is a really sweet boy who I'm looking
forward to training, he made his competition debut this week after only being
with me two weeks. He jumped a great clear round, and although he was slightly tense in his
first dressage he went on to finish 3rd. All came good when he pulled it all out of the bag to win the
second test with a whopping 73% - he is one to watch out for!
In a sad note, I waved goodbye to Lowmore Showgirl, she
has been around so long she was like a permanent fixture. She was a particularly great servant while I was pregnant
and after having Charlie so I have to admit being a
touch sad to see her move on. All said, she has a brilliant new home now where she has a whole family to
have fun with and I know they already love her to pieces.
Hoping the sun keeps shining now for what is definitely
turning into the most enjoyable and fun season I have had.
Bye for now
Sam x
