AFTER A WEDDING BREAK ITS BACK TO BUSINESS FOR TEAM "STEPHENSON"

July 2014

A lot seems to have happened since my last blog back in June, notably, I got married!! We had such an amazing day with friends and family and my first pony who is the same age as me made a surprise guest appearance which was just fabulous! Since then I have had 2 weeks away on honeymoon but am now back and busier than ever with the horses.

Frickley Park was our first event since the break and holds a special place in my heart as this is where we won our regional final qualifying for Badminton last year. Both horses were in the BE100 as a nice run to get us back in the swing of things. Alfie was on first and never put a foot wrong all day, he did a lovely test to score 31.5 and then posted a double clear inside the time to finish 3^rd. I was really pleased with him as he jumped his socks off and now feels ready for his step back up to novice at Skipton in 2 weeks’ time.

Herbie was a good boy on the whole with a solid dressage (also scoring 31.5). He then when onto the showjumping phase where he jumped the first four fences well, he then had fence 5 down which caused him to spook and run down to the double which was on a related distance and had both parts of that down. We then regrouped and jumped the final 3 fences nicely. Unfortunately this meant 12 faults which was frustrating but he is still young and hasn’t been out eventing since Bishop Burton in May. He redeemed himself by jumping a nice clear cross country but was obviously out of the placings. We had a really good day at Frickley and the event is really lovely, definitely a place we will be visiting again.

In addition to the horses I have also been dabbling in a bit of dog showing! I decided to enter my gorgeous Jack Russell, Maple, in the dog classes at Bishop Wilton Show. We had so much fun and won 3 rosettes!! Maple wasn’t so impressed with being paraded around so I can’t see her making a career out of it!

On the horse front, Alfie is now entered in the Novice at Skipton in 2 weeks’ time and Herbie has his first BE100 regional final at Bold Heath the following week so we’re all systems go on the training front.

Lucie xx

SAM JIMMISON - A NEW RECRUIT JOINS SJ HORSES AND PONIES AND WE GET SOME NEW WHEELS

Lots to write about this month.

We had a fab trip to Bramham.  All 6 of my rides went well with 2 in the top 10 of the 4y/o and Grace finishing 7th in the 5y/o.

Bramham was followed by dressage at Manor Grange, where I won the two prelims on the one to watch; First Caresino and Dayton did his first novice tests finishing 2nd in the first and he won the second.

Skipton followed with some BE; Grace finished 3rd with a double clear in her section and Dayton was 2nd in his section with a great double clear. I took 3 horses to Speetley;  Etasja, Carnroe Lady and Alexia and they all went double clear and finished in the prize money.

We did a bit of stress less dressage to start off some new babies and from a class of 7 all won a prize.  Even our new stable star, Dayton, did his first elementary and won, with a massive 74% score. 

Then it was Eland Lodge BE, Dayton was 2nd again and my new ride Penhill promising vision finished 8th.

Some good news but also a little sad, my very talented 4y/o Florina was spotted at Bramham and is now sold. We waved her off to her new home a couple of weeks ago so with money burning a hole in my pocket there will be a new 3y/o on the block very soon! 

Esmeralda a 5y/o I sold recently jumped a great triple clear to qualify for the British novice final, she is now owned by a good friend, which is great because I train both her and her new owner, so I get to play a part in her continued progress.  

On the yard side of things we have a new recruit at SJ Horses and Ponies - Jess has been friends with us for years and joins the team on a permanent basis.  We’ve grown so much over the past couple of years that we needed an extra pair of hands.  Jess has been looking for a job, so it worked out perfectly for us all.  Jess's first outing on the team couldn't have gone better, wining prizes on all three of her rides.  Jess has her own horse Vivaldo who she also competes so we are looking forward to a fun filled summer as a team.

My business partner Bev purchased a new HGV 5 horse lorry in June.  We are thrilled to have a bit of luxury to travel in for both us and the horses... and Millie the Jack Russell.

It’s been a busy and exciting few weeks and I’m sure it’s set to continue!

Sam

A RESPECTABLE 6TH AT A VERY WET BISHOP BURTON

 June 2014

 Well, this is my last blog before the wedding and my last blog as a ‘Cawood’!!

Since my last blog I have remained busy with the horses and Herbie had a run at Bishop Burton at the end of May. Unfortunately the weather was terrible and it rained pretty much constantly for the whole two days of competition. Herbie was in the BE100 which was his 3^rd event of the year. He did a very respectable dressage of 32.5 and a beautiful clear in the showjumping which was lovely as I’ve worked hard on this phase and he is continually improving. The cross country was relatively straight forward but the going was deteriorating quickly so I was thrilled that he got stuck in and went round clear. We added 6 time penalties to our dressage score as the ground was holding and he’s relatively inexperienced so I didn’t hammer him round. This left him in 6^th place meaning he has been placed in all 3 of his starts this year….not a bad record! I had decided to give Alfie that weekend off which paid dividend as he doesn’t like very wet going so no doubt I would have been in a difficult position deciding whether to withdraw him.

I will have one last run on Alfie before the wedding which will be Skipton this weekend. It’s one of my favourite events and I would like to move him back up to novice for the August Skipton fixture so it will be a nice prep run. Plus, I can’t think of a nicer way to take my mind off the stress of planning a wedding than eventing Alfie!

I had a jumping lesson with Zoe on both horses earlier this week where she really pushed us and I was thrilled to see both horse cope well with bigger tracks so hopefully this bodes well for the rest of the season.

Once I’m back from honeymoon I have my sights set on getting Herbie qualified for Badminton Grassroots and Alfie moving back up to novice level so it’s all systems go! In the meantime I’m hoping the sun will continue to shine (both for equestrian and wedding activities!)

Best Wishes,

Team Cawood

SAM JIMMISON GIVES HER FIRST UPDATE AS PART OF THE FULMART FEEDS TEAM

Hi Everyone

This is my first blog for my new sponsor, Fulmart Feeds.  I will be giving regular updates on what’s been happening in my yard.

We had a great trip to Badminton in May, finishing  9th in the 4y/o on Cornets Steal and 4th in a huge 5y/o on Grace VIII.   4y/o First Caresino won 4 British Dressage prelims on the trot with 74%+ scores and got a write up in Horse and Hound.  He went on to finish 2nd in the BYEH qualifier at Warren Farm, Chatsworth with my other horse,  Grace, finished 6th – so I was delighted with how well things went at Badminton.   

I did my first BE this year at Bishop Burton and finished 3rd then did and unaffiliated event at Shelford on the babies, Dayton, Florina and First Caresino, with each horse finishing respectably giving me some things to work on but pleasing start to their event careers.

We have bought 4 new horses recently and Im looking forward to getting them started, although one has been snapped up already and has gone to her new home!   I have been sent a gorgeous new 5y/o to ride, he is called Penhills promising vision and is owned by Carole Elton.

To keep up to date with what’s happening at Sam Jimmison horses and ponies – follow me on twitter or Facebook for regular updates.

Sam 

SUCCESSFUL DRESSAGE LEADS TO A 4TH PLACE AT WARWICK HALL, CUMBRIA

May 2014

Well, May is upon us and the weather looks set to improve, I’ve already cleaned the BBQ in anticipation!

Since my last blog, both horses have been out competing at a new event in Cumbria, Warwick Hall. It was a long journey up there (3 hours each way) but well worth it as the event was really well organised in lovely park land and the going was perfect. Whilst the day had ups and downs, on the whole I came away incredibly positive.

Both Herbie and Alfie did fabulous dressage tests to leave Herbie the stand out leader in his section and Alfie in second place by half a mark. The showjumping was up to height and with plenty to look at with tradestands and music around the arena. Herbie jumped really nicely and just had one fence down (rider error!) and Alfie had an uncharacteristic two fences down which was a shame. As the scores weren’t out at the time of me setting off cross country I decided to ride them both sensibly and according to their experience. Alfie flew round clear with just 0.4 of a time fault which left him 9^th (a good placing to say we had two fences down!) and Herbie gave me a super clear round with 4 time faults to add. I probably could have gone faster on him but as he’s so rangey and inexperienced I like to give him time at his fences to make sure we are accurate.

Little did I know that even with our fence down in the showjumping, Herbie was STILL in the lead going into the cross country phase. Unfortunately the time faults dropped us down to 4^th but I was so thrilled with such a stand out dressage, one silly fence down showjumping and a clear cross country.

My auntie Hayley came with us to help which meant we had a lovely fun day which was helped by both horses performing really nicely. Hopefully it wasn’t too hard work and she might just come again!

Next it’s a trip to Bishop Burton for Herbie at the end of May and then a well-earned rest for them both whilst I concentrate on getting married!

I hope everyone enjoys this much needed sunshine.

Best Wishes,

Team Cawood

A GOOD START TO THE SEASON, A STUD VISIT FOR OUR BROODMARE AND 8 WEEKS TO GO UNTIL THE WEDDING!

April 2014

I’m back at work after a lovely Easter break and with a lot going on over the next few weeks.

Last week we took our broodmare to the stud to be inseminated so now is a very tense time waiting to see if she is in foal. We have a used a lovely stallion called Wish Upon A Star who stands at the Graffam Stud. Mum did breed a foal some years ago but as technology has changed a lot we have found the process really interesting and insightful….I think mum has got the bug for it! I will keep everyone updated as to how things have gone but for now it is a case of crossing our fingers and toes!

Last weekend I took both boys out eventing to Breckenbrough Horse Trials, it was Herbie’s first event of the season and Alfie’s first novice of the season. Herbie was on first and was an absolute super star! He did a beautiful dressage followed by a double clear with just two time faults in the xc phase, leaving us 3^rd. It was great to see all of the hard work we've done with him over winter starting to pay off and I am very excited about the rest of the season with him! He’s a big rangey horse and still only rising 6 but I think he has all of the ingredients to make a great event horse.

It was almost a perfect day at Breckenbrough when Alfie also did a truly beautiful dressage test to leave him lying 2^nd and then a clear in the showjumping meant it was all to play for. Unfortunately he found the big bold cross country course a bit step up from his last couple of runs and just went a bit green on me, glancing off at the second part of a couple of the more tricky combinations. It was a real shame but it showed me that he needs more time cross country schooling and I can’t take him for granted. He went so well at the end of last season and I think he thrives on having lots of runs so I’ve got my entries in and hope his confidence will grow.

Our next trip will be to the new event, Warwick Hall in Cumbria next weekend so it’s all systems go at the moment. I have a cross country schooling session on both of them this evening which is always fun!

The wedding is 8 weeks away so excitement is mounting, Jim goes on his Stag Do in a couple of weeks and spent the Easter weekend ‘in training’ for it…..!!

Best Wishes,

Team Cawood

THINGS ON THE UP AFTER A SHAKY START TO THE SEASON

April 2014

Well apparently it’s spring but I’m not seeing too many signs of this outside!!  Following my disastrous start to the season, things have started to look up! Alfie and I trucked off to Lincoln the week after Oasby and had a far better day. He was a little full of it having been munching on the Spring grass so his dressage test wasn’t the best but with just one down in the showjumping and a clear cross country I felt we put our falls behind us which was nice. I then took him affiliated showjumping to one of our local centres the following week and we were second in a competitive Discovery class with a lovely double clear so he’s back in my good books!

 

Herbie also came showjumping with us and jumped a lovely clear round in the British Novice which was nice. Both horses are now entered for Breckenbrough Horse Trials which will be Herbie’s first affiliated event of the season and Alfie’s first Novice of the season. It will be lovely to get back out and will hopefully give us a good footing to crack on with the rest of the season.

I have been working really hard on Alfie’s dressage over the past few weeks and he is showing some fabulous progression. We have been working on shoulder in, travers, counter canter etc which is lovely as these are by far the most complicated movements I have tackled so far. Zoe (my trainer) and I have had some fab sessions working on this so I’m hoping to wow the dressage judges next time out!

In other exciting news, we now have a broodmare called Umber who we are hoping to breed a foal from next year so we are currently back and forth to the vets and frantically studying potential matches for her. I’m sure it’s a bit of a lottery but it’s very exciting watching all of the stallion videos and wondering what a foal might turn out like so we’re crossing everything that it all goes to plan.

Maple is doing OK although her recovery has been far from plain sailing but I think we are on the road to recovery now. She is desperate to get out eventing with us and says I wouldn’t have had my falls if she had been there to give me a pep talk!!

We get married in 11 weeks so I had my hen do last weekend which was fabulous! It was nice to get away for the weekend and let my hair down and has made the wedding feel very soon indeed!

I think this next few months could be very hectic indeed but it’s all good fun and keeps me out of trouble!