The
2017 BE season is now over for me and it's been full of ups and downs
but it has been fabulous. When we last caught up I had just enjoyed a
rare weekend off due to the disappointing cancellation of Skipton because of the weather. We headed off to Bold Heath not knowing quite what to expect. After a 4 am start I was more than frustrated with Freddie's dressage score after what felt like
a fabulous test. He went on to jump his best ever double clear so I was feeling a
little deflated as I watched the online scores showing us lying in 5th place. The class proceeded but no one seemed able to do a double clear and we ended up
winning the section by quite a few marks and gaining the all important Osberton
qualification we were looking for. Upsalls Lorna was unlucky to do her dressage
in a monsoon and took quite a dislike at first but once she settled her work
was so good she finished in 2nd place. The babies expertly piloted by Jasmine
were also fantastic with Bollywood jumping her first BE double clear and
Houdinii finishing in 6th.
Dayton scored
another brilliant BD result the following weekend finishing 2nd in another area
festival, I hoping he is saving his win for the semi's next month. With the
gorgeous British weather putting paid to another event at Cumwhinton we decided
to head for some showjumping at Sykehouse. As a few end of season
championships are getting close it seemed a good opportunity to introduce some of the horses to a
bigger test. Both Freddie and Lorna stepped up without an issue;
Lorna finishing 2nd in her first newcomers class and Freddie at just
5y/o doing his first 120 class, in the dark under floodlights. He had
a really unlucky pole but learnt so much.
Shelford saw us
add a new member to the string in the form of Joanne Pullan's Diamante. She
made our debut together a winning one in the 4y/o qualifier, this was the first
show this special young mare has competed in her life and I am very excited about her. Freddie stepped up to Novice without any hesitation. He scored 29
in the dressage and flew double clear, just a couple of cross country time
penalties saw us finish 3rd in good company. This was also my first competitive
appearance at this level.
This was a great warm up for Burghley where the competition was stiff, as was the challenge, but as always Freddie stepped up well. He just missed out on a top 10 prize
which would have been a fairy tale ending after the year we have had but I
still wouldn't want to take another horse home. Every time out he gives me 100%
and our partnership is becoming pretty strong. At Richmond, Dayton picked up his
third consecutive Badminton qualification, even when the worn out jockey forgot
her test for the second time in two days, whoops! I also forgot it on Diamante
but luckily she was so prefect that she still won the class on an amazing score
of 23 almost 10 marks ahead of her rivals. Dayton finished 2nd in his qualifier
so luckily all worked out fine and I think it was a kick up the backside I
needed to slow down a little and get my head focused on the important events
coming up.
Walking the
course for the big class at Frickley on Friday evening was a bit daunting!
Neither Freddie, Lorna or Doodle had seen anything so demanding and the
championships were looking competitive with some seriously competitive
combinations qualified. Doodle kicked the day off with a fabulous dressage
which held her in 3rd place but her inexperience showed at the tricky water
combination. Nonetheless I was so proud of her, she completed confidently and jumped a
great showjumping round to end her season and in my opinion, has learnt so much
in her 3 events she is looking very interesting for next year. Freddie did his
best dressage test to date with Lorna not far behind to both go to the tough
cross country in the top 10. I was conscious that the course asked things they
hadn't even yet seen in training so I was prepared to train round but they both
picked up the reins, pricked their ears and answered every single question
without fault to finish inside the time, moving the both into the top 5. The
showjumping was also a tall order for Lorna and an unlucky rail out of the
combination was costly. The course was well inside Freddie's capability but I
wondered if he would feel tired being only young and inexperienced. However, he tried 110% and flew round clear moving us into the lead. Unfortunately the winner followed us as she was closer to the optimum time
even though our dressage scores were the same. It was quite an emotional moment
as there was a time that we didn't even know if we would have a Freddie so for
him to give me his all and finish 2nd in this class where most of the horses
were already double his age felt really special and exciting. Lorna also
finished in 7th position which if you had told me as I walked the course
on Friday evening she would just finish I would have been proud. To win a
prize blew all my expectations out of the water, she was only gingerly doing
90cm in March and this equaled a pretty decent Novice track. Dayton also had
some of the limelight winning his 100 section on his dressage score after
we decided the challenge format wouldn't suit him, I was pleased with my
decision after his confident performance.
The weekend had
been an excellent warm up for this years main aim the BE young horse
championships. With a few bits to tweak with training I was feeling
confident that I had done all the preparation I could. We had a fabulous
draw as the times we had meant we did dressage on Thursday and the jumping
phases on Friday. I felt this would be great as it meant I could really focus
towards each challenge, as we left on the first day both horses were top 10
with Freddie in 8th and Diamante in 3rd. I was more
than thrilled as there were some of the best riders in the world in the class. I
really felt that both horses had given me their absolute best. Diamante made a
silly error in the jumping that dropped us a place but her faultless cross
country and confident performance at only her 4th ever show left us feeling
so lucky to have found her. Freddie was just a superstar jumping one of few
faultless double clears to pull up to 3rd, with the winner only two marks
ahead.
Bishop Burton
was on the agenda for the following day but arriving to knee deep mud was not
at all funny. I attempted the dressage on Fleur and her bold attempt gave us a
score of 29 but I decided against jumping and withdrew, my ponies are far to
precious! Houdini and Jasmine having already done their dressage they
decided to continue and jumped a brilliant double clear to finish 4th in their
section and end their season in a fabulous place.
I made a
special journey to watch a very special combination at HOYS and was
totally blown away with their performance. To think it was a year to the day
that the outstanding Ebolensky gave me my first ride in a professionals
championship at this very show it was a dream come true to go and watch her win
the world famous and much sought after Foxhunter title with Mathew Sampson in
the driving seat. They made me so proud, the team behind this amazing mare
always knew she was special and for the 4 years I was privileged to ride
her we often joked that one day she would win this class so to be sat their
when this incredible combination made it look effortless was
definitely a highlight of my career and a very emotional experience that I
can only thank Ebolensky, Matt and the Evison family for making possible. On
that note i'm going to say bye for now as I sit and ponder what to do for the
next few months now the season has ended. I have a few things up my
sleeve so I'll catch up soon and let you know how things go.
Sam x
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