New horses for 2017

Bella Cruise

 The 2017 season is finally on the horizon and things are in full swing at home to ensure we are prepared for our first runs of the year. Each horse has its plan for the season and I have been out competing at dressage and showjumping competitions to prepare them as well as starting to take them XC schooling. Harry Robinson has just had a solid British Dressage outing at Bishop Burton ahead of the regional championships in Feburary. He took 3^rd place in a competitive Elementary section scoring over 70% and we are busy preparing to compete in the Novice.

Harry Robinson

I am pleased to say that I have a new ride on a 2* horse called Comarcos Primero Naciado or Nobby, who will be owned by myself and some existing owners. He made a winning start to his time with me, taking top spot in the BS 1.15m at Bishop Burton earlier this month. Alongside him I will be campaigning in 2017, my current rides Harry Robinson owned by Mrs Kate Lyon who is at Intermediate level and Bella Cruise owned by Detech Europe at BE90/100 as well as my other new ride Barolo owned by Mrs Louise Knock who has currently competed to 1* level.

On the training front I have several days planned including an event training day at Killerby Hall Equestrian and two arena eventing training days at Richmond Equestrian Centre through British Eventing. 

That's it for now!

Phil

Horse of the Year Show is a dream come true.

Well with Christmas now literally just around the corner and only one more show of 2016 left I'm sat here thinking 'oh my god' where has this year gone?! It doesn't seem two minutes since I was sat in this very spot last year totally depressed and wondering when I was ever going to ride again due my my very poorly broken leg.  I'm currently sat reflecting on what has been a rollercoaster year but boy have I enjoyed it!! 

Do I want to do it all again.......   Definitely! 

Last time we caught up HOYS was my next stop. All I can say about that experience is 'wow' and as always Ebolensky was my absolute rock.  She took the huge occasion in her stride and jumped a beautiful round, it was so nice to have her back to her best.

A trip to Cyprus with Neil and Charlie was pretty soon on the calendar and I was more than feeling ready to put my feet up just not before Billionaires last outing of 2016 at the British Dressage Petplan championship at Houghton Hall.  With his outings running up to the championship I was feeling positive and in the collecting ring he felt amazing.  Sadly, I let the side down... I forgot a movement in the test.. I was devastated.  The rest of the test just felt like perfection and I really thought I'd blown it.  I was so angry at myself but luckily the three judges were impressed with our work and we scored a huge 74% and we won.  Our closest rival scored more than 2% less and considering my error you could say I was rather pleased.  It backed up my theory of what a special horse he is and what a lucky lady I am to ride such a talented gentleman.

On a slightly sadder note just before we departed for our holiday I had decided it was time to say goodbye to my faithful friend Ryan's Way.  He played a huge part in my career, my parents purchased him as a 3y/o for me when I was still in ponies and he was the first one I produced from scratch.  We had lots of ups and downs in our time together and he taught me so much but I felt that at 21 this year he wasn't getting any younger and winter was going to be a tough time for him with age not being kind to him.  It was my fairytale for him that he would leave us on a summers day, in the sunshine, from his field that he shared with his friends. It was the hardest decision I have ever made but as if to tell me I was doing the right thing the sun shone bright and he left me happy, if a touch stiff! Even now thinking of it makes me cry, he will always be my special boy 

Now where's that plane...

Two weeks seemed to fly by.  We had a fabulous time in the sunshine and for the first time ever I was not really ready to come home.  Tthe weather was glorious and playing with Charlie 24/7 was fantastic but as with everyone I have work to do. 

Since I came home the focus has mainly been on getting all the young ones in to a serious routine and work out exactly which direction they are all going in. 

Coon Freddie is loving his winter work after his break. He's very fresh and happy and has jumped double clear and been placed every time out.  He will be aimed at BYEH and BE 5yrs old classes and his owners have just placed another one of their exciting youngsters with me, Grafiba, who is an interesting prospect.  He's a big lad, standing at 16.3 at 3yrs old but he's gorgeous.  Dressage will be the focus for now as we don't want to rush him in the jumping phase, although he is looking every inch an eventing star.

Louise Abba has sent me a gorgeous prospect in her fabulous mare Gea.  This mare has jumped double clear and won and been placed every time out British show jumping and she made her dressage debut last week and won both her tests even beating my own Fleur T.  Gea is for sale and as much as the goal is to find her a new partner I genuinely love her and hope I get to ride her for a while to come yet. 

Moss Farm have have given me the reins on their lovely 4yr old Zambesi Girl and Bollywood. Zambesi Girl made her winning competition debut with me at Port Royal and I'm hoping Bollywood will be ready to be out in the new year.

I can't forget a small mention for the big guy, Dayton.  After a short chill time after finishing eventing he is now back in work and working hard towards the British Dressage regionals.  We have finally decided to take the plunge and to step up a class and this week we won both our elementarys with +70% scores.  This is a big milestone for me, coming from my previous showjumping background. I've had to work hard in the dressage phase, although I have had lots of experience in the novice classes but most of the horses are sold before I get to step them up.  I've also held off stepping up as I'm a perfectionist and I didn't want to let him down by not having the training in place that we needed.  I feel that waiting and training hard has paid off and it is a big credit to his owner who has been so supportive and helped us blossom into a great team.  Who knows one day I may be saying the same if we step up to medium.  Every time I step up a class I say 'that's it, that's as far as I go' so who knows.

With just that one more show to go before another chill out over Christmas I'm feeling positive about what may be to come in 2017.  With another fabulous bunch of horses to ride it's very exciting! 

I hope everyone has a fabulous Christmas and new year and I look forward to catching up in 2017

Sam x

Some new prospects arrive for next season.

With the end of the season here I have been reflecting on my performances from the past few months, to decide what worked well, where improvements can be made and to make plans for next year. I like to make a main goal for the season for each horse and work back from there deciding which events they need to do in their preparation as well as any pre-season training competitions and with next year’s British Eventing calendar out already I am busy making loose plans for the horses ahead of 2017.

Barolo

Alongside Harry and Bella I have just gained an exciting new ride for next season in Mrs Louise Knock’s Barolo. Rolo as he is known at home was bred by Louise and has competed upto 1* level already. I also have on trial a potential horse to run under the syndicate, this horse has competed up to 2* level and I am still seeking possible syndicate members to come on board with this exciting opportunity.

Kate Lyon’s Harry Robinson has been busy with some British Dressage shows over the last month and I’m pleased say that in just two shows we have qualified for the winter regional championships at novice level. He has had some great scores over 70% and finalised his qualification with a convincing win at Northallerton EC last week.

The quiet time has also given me chance to get my owners and sponsors together for our annual end of season team outing to the Chinese. We had a great night and it is a fab opportunity for me to say thanks to everyone for their support.

Finally, Fulmart Feeds are running another competition to win a lesson with me at my yard in Scarborough or at Claxton near York.  If you're interested in entering take a look at Fulmart's Facebook page.  The competition closes on 10th December.

Until next time

Phil

Askham Bryan and Oasby Horse Trials complete the 2016 season

Bella Cruise at Askham Bryan Horse Trials

 The last few weeks have brought a great end to my 2016 eventing season with successful runs at Bishop Burton, Askham Bryan and Oasby. Kate Lyon’s Harry Robinson jumped a brilliant double clear in the Novice at Bishop Burton at the beginning of the month to take third place and finished his season in style at Oasby by gaining his first intermediate placing with eighth in his section. LRd electric’s Bella Cruise has also finished her season well. After a couple of inexperienced errors at more technical combinations on the XC at Bishop Burton she was on form in all three phases at Askham Bryan and feels like she is beginning to understand and love her job.

Harry Robinson at Oasby

It has been somewhat of a rollercoaster of a year for me with the main highlight being completing my first Bramham with a fabulous clear XC on the amazing Miss Brodie and obviously we've then had the massive low of her injury at Blenheim. All in all it has been my best season to date with some great rides on some lovely horses. I am so grateful to my wonderful owners as well as my family and team for making it all possible.

It was great to catch up with the Fulmart team at Askham Bryan horse trials. A big thanks must also go to you for keeping the horses fueled to do their job and looking in fantastic condition, your support makes a huge difference.

The forthcoming months will see me holding some training clinics while the horses have a short break before we start our winter training programme in readiness to be back bigger and better for the 2017 season. 

Phil

Sam reflects on her latest run of competitions and looks forward to HOYS.

It seems like forever since my last blog, when I had just picked up my ticket to the 2017 Badminton grassroots championship with Dayton at Skipton.

The British Showjumping Championships at Stoneleigh was next in the diary and the ever consistent Carlensky didn't disappoint us, she finished 8th in a super fast class out of over 100 starters. An early start the following  day saw us head off to Bold Heath for the first of two shots at the British eventing 4y/o qualifiers with Coon Freddie.  He put in a very respectable performance to finish 4th which was a good warm up for his other shot the following week at Shelford.  Again at Shelford he put his best foot forwards in the jumping to finish on a great double clear but unfortunately he was a little wayward in the dressage - and it was extremely costly. Carlensky made her first ever BE appearance at this event and she was a total trooper, she did a beautiful dressage test to finish with a score of 27 and absolutely stormed the showjumping and cross country, we were so proud of her and hoped this would be a good springboard for her into the world of eventing, with her impeccable showjumping record we feel she is a candidate for the very top.

The following week was looking fairly quiet so I decided to enter two young ones for an unaffiliated event.  Everything was going to plan until a phone call on Saturday morning saw a change of plans and me heading off to Cumbria with a catch ride for the BE5y/o qualifier.  Thankfully Beth did a fabulous job standing in for me with the young ones and they had a great day out. My day in Cumbria was  successful finishing in 5th place and scoring the horses best ever dressage score of 29!! After the success of the weekend we decided the horse deserved a last shot at qualifying so we headed off to Keysoe the following week.  Again we finished 5th, a little frustrating not to qualify but the horse was such a star.  For a 5y/o to cope with a change of jockey and put up such good performances is lovely and I feel he is a serious future talent.  I'm hoping his normal jockey is fit and well so they can have a successful start to his 2017 season.

Billionaire started his run up nationals at Manor Grange Stud the following weeks he had an amazing show and felt absolutely his best ever. He won both his tests with over 75% so what more could you ask of a final preparation.

Then the first of the big days arrived; Burghley! Every year when we qualify you think you have a long wait for the final but with our hectic schedules the final just seems to arrive in two minutes.  We had a fabulous day and even though Coon Freddie had only been with me a couple of months he was fantastic.  It was the first time his owner Joanne Pullan had seen us compete together so the pressure was on.  Freddie did a perfect job and we ended the day finishing in 7th place.  Being just a 4y/o and not having done a huge amount we felt this was a very creditable finish and a great way for Freddie to end his 4y/o season.  He is now resting in his scruffs and will return to competition work in November.

Frickley Park Horse Trials was up next and with 5 horses running over the two days it was always going to be hectic! On Saturday Suzanah Franks awesome pony did his last BE of the season and 

made it a good one finishing in 8th place.  He improved on his first outing by two places and improved his dressage score by three points. He headed home from Frickley with Suzanah for a well earned holiday and some fun time with his owner ahead of his 2017 season. Overwater Emi did me proud, Jasmine Watson took the reins and did a brilliant job, she did a stunning double clear and is another to end her 2016 on a real high note. Carlensky started things off well the following day to lead her class by quite a margin but a green error cost us on the cross country.   I was so proud of her as it was he first BE100 and only her second event. Dayton was on top form, unusually for the big guy the dressage judges weren't charmed by him, I'm not sure quite why as he felt outstanding. I can't complain at him as he did everything I asked and then he flew cross country as always, we had concerns about the championship format and him showjumping last but he was a hero and did a fit perfect clear which left us 9th, admittedly I was disappointed, not with Dayton but I couldn't help feeling a little robbed, I know I sound like a brat but you can't help how you feel when you know you and the horse have done a good job.

After the craziness of eventing it was time to calm things down for the BD national championships with Billionaire, he was fantastic! We just missed a prize finishing in 11th place but I cannot complain one bit, the competition was tough and to even be there is huge.  I feel I have learnt a lot and to be in the same collecting ring as Carl and Charlotte is just an honour.  They are amazing and so inspirational!! I really really hope I get the chance to qualify and compete at the nationals again!

After some time out for a freshen up Ebolensky was back in the ring in style at the Arena UK championships.  She qualified her championship finishing in 8th place in the outdoor ring and then over what proved a seriously tough course indoors we finished 5th with a brilliant double clear.  With HOYS just around the corner it's a great to have her feeling on top form.

A very early timing meant a 3am start to head off to Aske International Horse Trials for my last BE run of 2016.  With HOYS and a holiday all happening in the space of a couple of weeks I was sad to be finishing the season so early, especially with the sun still shining, but I can only fit so much in. Dayton and Carlensky gave me a fabulous finish, both double clear with Carly having her best ever XC!! I will now hand her reins over to Noah Brook as we feel a couple more runs will really set her up to come out in the novice sections in 2017. She will continue her training a little longer but the big dude Dayton is now on a well deserved holiday.  We finished with a fabulous win with a dressage score of 19, our personal best as a partnership.  I can't ask for any more, he had made massive improvements this season and is feeling his best ever.

So the time has come, extremely quickly, to focus on what's going to be my biggest ever achievement so far in my career.  Riding at HOYS is everyone's dream and I've been lucky enough in the past with my amazing old horse Tamara to go in the amateur classes and win a prize!! But this time it's a professionals class, the pressure is on... But the aim is to enjoy and I would not want to be going on any other horse than Ebolensky.  We have been together from the start and we totally believe and trust each other, wish me luck everyone and I'll keep you posted on how it goes...

Bye for now

Sam x

Blenheim Horse Trials brings an end to a great partnership

Unfortunately, since my last blog I have experienced the biggest low of my career so far. Blenheim did not have the ending we were hoping for. Sadly after posting a qualifying test score with big improvements in some areas Jules broke down part way round the XC course. In four seasons she has never given me a bad XC ride and although she was jumping the fences she didn’t feel like her usual self. I put her odd way of going down to nerves and maybe the weather conditions but after she put a stop in half way round – something she would never normally do – and then riding downhill I knew something wasn’t right and made the decision to retire.

Jules in her final outing at Blenheim

Unfortunately she had suffered some serious damage to her tendon and we are now looking at getting her right and retiring her from top level.

To say I am devastated is an understatement; I owe Jules my whole career and more. However, along with the amazing memories which I will treasure forever she has given me opportunities and experiences that many riders never come close too. I am hugely grateful to the syndicate for their support with her over the past few seasons.

On a more positive note Harry jumped a fantastic double clear in the Novice at Bishop Burton this weekend to finish 3^rd and Bella got a second event under her belt with an unfortunate couple  of inexperienced mistakes at difficult combinations on the XC after a nice test and clear SJ. She will have learnt a lot though and is coming along nicely.

I now end the season with Harry and Bella running at Askham Bryan and Oasby as well as planning some end of season training dates. I am also seeking more rides for next season and looking at setting up another syndicate after the success we have had with Jules, so if anybody is interested in being part of that journey please get in touch.

Phil

A busy month with trips to Frickley, Burgham, Aston le Walls, Somerford and Shelford Manor.

I am currently in the middle of a very busy part of my season, with quite a few events interspersed with various camps and other coaching commitments. At the end of July I had a particularly busy weekend with both Kate Lyon’s Harry Robinson and The Jules Syndicate’s Miss Brodie competing at Burgham International on the Saturday and Abbie Boden’s  Zafira at Frickley Park on the Sunday. 

Burgham did not quite go to plan in the SJ with either of my rides, Harry struggled with the ground and Jules was far too excited to be allowed out again after her post Bramham break so both horses had a few more fences down than I would have liked. We decided to save Harry’s Intermediate run for another day and Jules put in her usual XC performance to manage 9^th in the OI. Zafira then managed to turn my weekend around on the Sunday at Frickley by posting a best dressage mark for her and a double clear to finish 3^rd in the 90 Open.

Next stop was Aston le Walls where Harry had another Novice run and he took 10^th place in a very competitive section – his 5^th top ten finish in 6 Novice runs this year! LRD Electric’s Bella Cruise then contested her first unaffiliated event a couple of days later at Aston finishing just out of the prizes in 11^th. She will be doing her first BE competition by the end of this month at Keysoe.

Last week I had a busy few days with Zafira at Shelford Manor and Harry and Jules at Somerford Park the following day. Zafira again jumped a double clear on a good test score but was unfortunately competing HC. Harry then finally broke his bad luck at Intermediate level, producing a relaxed test, just one down SJ and a confident clear XC around Somerford’s up to height track. Jules had her final run pre Blenheim and apart from deciding that walking in her dressage test was far too boring she felt great with just a fence in the SJ and a mega clear XC.

Keysoe this weekend saw Bella get her BE career underway with a confident clear in the BE90 and Harry jumped another solid clear at Intermediate.

Fulmart's first competition winner came to the yard for her lesson competition prize recently.  Pippa and her horse Mouse did some flatwork and jumping in preparation for a working hunter competition the following weekend and, having seen Pippa since, Im delighted to report that she was placed. Fulmart will be offering more lesson competition prizes through Facebook so do keep a look out on their page.

Competition winners Pippa and Mouse

I’m heading to Burghley to spectate this weekend and then it is full steam ahead to Blenheim with Jules next week!!

Until next time.

Phil