Le Lion D'Angers Young Horse World Championships

Persimmon having only started eventing this year did fantastically well to be one of only three British horse's selected to compete in the six year old championships. He was early to go on the Thursday morning and did a lovely test and coped very well with such a big arena, he scored a 51 which I was a little disappointed with. This left him in equal 3rd over night and in equal 9th after the second day of dressage.

He then flew around the cross country on the Saturday morning and did a lovely clear inside the time round a tough and technical track. Sunday morning dawned and Persimmon was nice and bouncy and not at all tried after his exertions. He jumped well, but unfortunately had three down, they were all going towards the grandstand and crowds. He had them all down behind as the crowds worried him and he got tense and tightened his back. He finished jumping well and will have learnt a lot. I was thrilled with his performance and am now really looking forwards to next season with him.

Zidante was competing in the seven year old championships and was a star!! She did a lovely test, she was very relaxed for such a big occasion and was very accurate only making a single error in her rein back. This was good enough to leave us on a 44.1 and in equal third going into the cross country.

The course was very technical and caused a lot of trouble with 32 of the 68 competitors faulting. Zidante was fantastic however and jumped a very grown up clear inside the time to take the lead over night!!

She was again fantastic in the show jumping and really should have finished on her dressage score, but due to rider error she had the first fence down!! I took a little too much canter away from her and gave her too much to do over the spread so she had the back rail behind. This woke me up and made me ride a lot more forward and like my normal self. I think I let everything get to me. I was thrilled with the rest of her round and was over the moon when I looked at the score bored on my way out the arena and realised I had still won even with my error!! As I was busy warming Zidante up I had no idea how the others had jumped and didn't realise that I had a fence in hand. What a relief and what a way to end the season!!

Zidante really deserved this win as she has been so good and consistent all year so to round it all up with a three day win and becoming the Seven Year Old World Champion is just fantastic for her and all her connections.

Watch her cross country and show jumping by following this link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q30Z21BHqqg

Zidante 7yr old World Champion

Larkhill BE100

I had Amsterdam and Ballingowan Echo out again at Larkhill. Amsterdam was again on great form and did another beautiful test and scored a brilliant mark of 21!! He was then very unlucky to have one down, but went brilliantly across country and ended the season on a win!!

Ballingowan Echo went very well and did a very nice test, but the dressage judges seemed to disagree and scored him 34.5. He to had one down which was a shame, but the course was a bit too small for him! He then jumped a lovely clear in the time cross country and finished just out the top ten.

Ballingowan Echo

Amsterdam winning his last event of the year!

Calmsden

Amsterdam was back doing a BE100 and was on great form he did a lovely test to score 26.5 and jumped a super double clear to finish 2nd.

I had Ballingowan Echo a new ride having his first run also in the BE100. He is owned by my good friend Ibby Macpherson who also owns Ballingowan Diamond. He went very well and did a nice test to score 33, he to went on to jump a lovely double clear to finish 5th.

Amsterdam 2nd in the BE100

Ballingowan Echo 5th in the BE100

Osberton Lycetts 6yr Old Young Horse Championships

Persimmon was a super star yet again. He did a lovely test to score 47.9, I was a little disappointed with his mark but thrilled with his mistake free test. It was still good enough to leave us in 3rd place going into the show jumping.

Watch our test by following the link:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LTPvkeYCFEM

 

He then jumped a superb clear to move into the lead going into the cross country. He flew round the cross country inside the time to win and become the new Lycetts six year old champion!!

 

Watch our cross country by following this link:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lg4aNz0o9NE

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nxze-ept41E

 

 

Bricky

Amsterdam was competing in the BE100 and went brilliantly. He did a great test to score 27.5 and lead the section, he then jumped a fantastic double clear to win on his dressage.

Gatcombe CIC* and CIC**

Zidante was competing in the CIC** and Persimmon was doing the CIC*. Both of them were stars and mirrored each other through out the competition. Both did great tests and scored 45.3 and then both went and jumped immaculate double clears, with a handful of time faults. Zidante finished a fantastic 2nd and not to be out done Persimmon finished 3rd in his CIC* section, so very consistent ponies!!

Although thrilled with both horse's I was a little disappointed not to have won one of the sections as they were both very kindly sponsored by Whatley Manor and you won a two day spa break, perfect for a relax and refresh at the end of a long season!!

Purston Manor

I just had Amsterdam doing the BE100. He did a good test to score 32.5, I was a little disappointed with his mark, but pleased with his performance. He then had an annoying two down in the show jumping just by being far too interested in the shoppers in the trade stands!! He then jumped a great clear cross country.

Pontispool

I had Zidante and Bonne Amie both doing the Open Intermediate. The were both very good girls, Bonne Amie did another good test and scored a 31.4 to be right up with the leaders. She then jumped a great double clear to finish 3rd.

Zidante lead the dressage on 26.8 and jumped a great double clear. I didn't go to quickly as the ground was on the firm side and she was due to run again four days later in the CIC** at Gatcombe. Even with her few time faults, it was still good enough to finish 2nd. So all in all a good day for the girls!!

West Wilts

I just had Starlight running in the Intermediate Novice. This was her first run for a while as she has been put in foal. She has had her 60 day scan so the vets were happy for her to run without causing any risk to her foal.

She was having the run with the aim of gaining 2 or more points to up grade her to advanced. Although she was a little short of match practice she was a star and did a lovely test to score 28.6. She then jumped a fantastic double clear in the time to finish 2nd. This was the perfect result as she won 5 points and up graded to advanced. She is now going out in the field to be a mummy and we are all really looking forwards to May!!

Burghley CCI****

High Havoc was doing his first ever CCI**** at Burghley and made it one to remember, not always for the best reasons!! He did a great test and scored very well in his trot work, he even received a 9!! His canter is still a little green at this level and he had a little break in his walk, which kept his final score down. He scored a very respectable 50.3 which left him in the top quarter.

Watch our test by following this link:
http://www.youtube.com/BurghleyTV#p/u/159/rBzEqIPZavE

High Havoc then was absolutely fantastic cross country and flew round, you would never have known it was his first attempt at this level. He was near on foot perfect the whole way round. He had a few time faults, due to me managing to stop my stop watch only a minute into the course!! It wasn't the most technical course, but definitely the biggest track I have ever jumped round. I now know for sure that I have a true four star horse which is very very exciting!!

                                                 The biggest cross country fence ever built!!
Watch our cross country round by following this link:
http://www.youtube.com/BurghleyTV#p/u/82/X_rwc7eOfas

After everything going so well in the first two phases I really was hoping for at least a top twenty finish as High Havoc is normally such a reliable show jumper, rarely having a pole down. It wasn't to be however. We were one of the first to jump after the lunch break and during a massive down pour. The ground became very slippy and wet on top. High Havoc warmed up well and went in the arena feeling good. He jumped the first three very well but disaster struck at fence four, as he went to take off he lost his back end and slipped through the fence sat on his bottom. As he is such a careful horse this shattered his confidence, both in himself and the ground. He jumped a few more but really wasn't happy and making the ground up through the treble and had another stop, which unfortunately eliminated us.

So it was almost the dream debut, but not quite. After having a few days off I gave High Havoc a jump at home to check he hadn't lost his confidence too much. He jumped very happily and is now having a well deserved holiday.

Highclere

I had Bonne Amie, Zidante and General Opposition all doing the Open Intermediate. After the dry weather and hard ground we had a bit of a contrast at Highclere with the heavens opening!!

Bonne Amie went very well in our first OI together she did a nice relaxed test with a couple of mistakes to score 31.4. She was then very unlucky to have one down due to getting stuck in the mud in the treble. She then went very well cross country to jump a lovely clear with a few time faults due to the ground being so wet.

Watch Bonne Amie going cross country by following these links:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bDF9NIMy32I

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vu6_Qa1Qh5U

General Opposition did a great test to score 28.2. Then got very stuck in the mud and had a couple down which was a real shame. He then had a very uncharacteristic 20 penalties on the cross country after struggling up the distance through the step combination.

Watch General Opposition going cross counrty by following the link:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zKFfS8TceDY

Zidante did the leading test of the section to score 24.6. She then jumped her socks off in the mud to jump a great clear. I decided not to run cross country as she was late on in the day and the ground had become rather heavy and deep in places.

Somerford CIC*

After Persimmon's great Intermediate debut he then went to Somerford to compete in his first CIC*. He was a star yet again and did a fantastic test to lead the section on 44.4. He had a very unlucky fence down, which is unlike him.

He made up for it cross country though and flew round inside the time to finish 5th.

Watch Persimmon fly through the water by following this link

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PPM5FIYSKIc

Aston Le Walls

I had Zidante doing the Open Intermediate and Persimmon doing his first ever Intermediate. Both went brilliantly with Zidante redeeming herself some what from a poor performance at Gatcombe. She did a great test to score 31.8 and jumped a super double clear to win her section.

Persimmon was an absolute star, he also scored a 31.8 and jumped an amazing double clear with just a few time faults to finish second. This was a fantastic result for his first Intermediate and even more of a great achevment considering he is only six.

Hartpury CIC***

 High Havoc was my only runner at Harpury but he didn't let me down. He did a nice test, but it was in the indoor school and he lacked a bit of expression compared to when he is outside, he still scored a competitive 48. I was a bit disappointed that we didn't show ourselves of a little better, but we still had everything to play for.

We also show jumped indoors which was a bit of a surprise as the horse's are so used to being out in the open. This didn't phase High Havoc however and he jumped a great clear. Having not run since Barbury he needed a good blow as this was his last run before Burghley. The ground wasn't as good as I had hoped it might be which was a real shame, but High Havoc traveled really well on it and didn't seem to notice and jumped a very confident clear and was pretty foot perfect, which will give us both a lot of confidence before our first CCI**** together. We also finished 3rd which was a fantastic result.

Watch some our cross country round by following this link:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ml5bTeoKGQ

Aston Le Walls

Zidante was back out again this time in the Open Intermediate. I wanted to get another quick run into her to really consolidate her run at West Wilts and to make sure that Gatcombe hadn't worried her, I didn't want her to dwell on things as being a mare she can think a little too much.

I needn't have worried however and she did another good test to score 31 then jumped another lovely double clear. She was foot prefect and jumped very confidently and is now firmly back on track. She won as well which was a great added bonus.

I also had Persimmon there, he was doing his first ever Intermediate and at only six is very young for this level. He was a complete super star and scored a 31 dressage and jumped a fantastic double clear to finish 2nd!! This was better than I could have hoped for and I was so pleased with how grown up and mature he was in both the jumping phases.

West Wilts

I had Bonne Amie and after her little mishap at Gacombe, Zidante in the Open Novice. Bonne Amie was a little fresh in her dressage as she lacked a bit of work the week before as she had puss in the foot. But she jumped two very nice clears.

Zidante did a nice test and scored 27. She to went and jumped a lovely double clear and didn't seem at all worried after Gatcombe which was great news. She just ran slowly and really enjoyed herself.

The Festival Of British Eventing

Zidante was my only runner at Gatcombe and this was in the Novice Championships. She did her usual lovely test and scored 26 to lie in 3rd place behind Ruth Edges two horses on 25. She then had one fence down which was a shame, but it didn't affect her place and stayed in third going into the cross country.

This however didn't quite go to plan!! She was a little full of herself and was jumping very big and miss read a combination fence, believing she was Pegasus and could fly!! Which she can't, this worried her a bit and we ended up with 20 penalties so I decided to call it a day and save her for another event as the ground was hard it wasn't worth risking her.

Pegasus flying!!

Homme House

Mad About U was having his second outing of his eventing career and he would have made it another winning one had he not of had to have run HC. He did a lovely relaxed test to score 25 then jumped a very grown up double clear. He had to run HC as he is only four he is restricted to 4 year old Lycett classes and as he has already won one and has qualified for the championships he is not permitted to compete competitively which was a real shame. But he was a star again.

Wilton

I had Bonne Amie as my sole ride at Wilton. She was running in the Open Novice where she finished 3rd. She did a much improved test to score 29 then jumped a lovely double clear.

Aston Le Walls

Aston le Walls was my first disappointing event for a while. I had Bee Animas, General Opposition and High Havoc all competing in the Advanced. Bee Animas was a little bit hot and tense in his dressage and scored 37. He then jumped a lovely clear in the show jumping which caused its fair share of trouble. He then was giving me a great ride cross country and was a good three quarters of the way round the course when we turned for home. At this point he really took hold for some reason and didn't want to listen at all. For this reason I made the decision to pull him up. We will have a little rethink on bitting and management before he goes out again. I think he is a little too fit and feeling rather well after his wind operation at the end of last year.

General Opposition did a lovely test, but lost a few marks for shaking his head quite violently when he got a bug or fly down his ear so scored 35. He then jumped really well and was unlucky to have the middle part of the treble down. He then jumped very well over the first eight cross country fences, but pulled a shoe off and then was very reluctant to jump down the drops, which is unlike him so again I decided to call it a day, which was very frustrating, but I would rather have a sound happy horse ready to run confidently next time out.

High Havoc did a brilliant test and was very good in his changes which have let him down in the past, which was really pleasing. He scored a 30 which left him in third place. He then jumped a really good clear in the show jumping. I then decided to not run him cross country as the ground was a little tacky and he had only done Barbury two weeks previously, where he had been amazing. He next stop is now Gatcombe.

Dauntsey

Dauntsey is our most local event, its just a couple of villages away. It is great to be able to compete so close to home. I had Bonne Amie a new ride for me in the Open Novice, Persimmon in the Novice and Amsterdam in the BE 100.

Bonne Amie did a nice relaxed test with a few silly mistakes, mainly her halts and rein back let her down to score 35. She then jumped a lovely double clear. We just went slowly as we are building up a partnership and she lacks a bit of confidence.

Persimmon was a star again and produced a lovely test to score 26 and jumped a smashing double clear with just 0.8 of a time fault to finish second. This result has now up graded to Intermediate.

Amsterdam did a lovely test to score 28. He to jumped a great double clear and added just a few time faults to finish 8th.

Tweseldown

I had Bee Animas, General Opposition and Ballingowan Diamond all at Tweseldown. Bee Aniams was a little wild in the dressage but went on to jump a lovely double clear, we just went slowly cross country as he had only run the week before.

General Opposition did a lovely test to score 29 but had a very unlucky rail down in the middle of the treble. We then decided not to run him cross country as he had run very well the week before and didn't need the experience so we decided to save him for another day.

Ballingowan Diamond was the star of the day winning his first ever Intermediate!! He scored a brilliant 26 in the dressage then jumped a very grown up clear round a testing show jumping track. Monte was a little surprised at the size of the first few cross country jumps, but soon settled into a lovely rhythm and grew in confidence the whole way round the course, giving me a great ride!!

Barbury

Barbury is one of our most local events and is in the most amazing settings. I had Mad About U in the BYEH four year old qualifier, Persimmon in the Novice, Zidante in the CIC** and High Havoc in the CIC***

Mad About U went very well, but was a little flat after his exciting first outing at Stonar and finished a respectable 10th in the BYEH class.

Persimmon went fantastically in the Novice to score 28 in the dressage and then jumped a great double clear to finish third, less than a mark behind the winner!! He gave me a great ride cross country round what would be his toughest track to date.

Pesimmon @ Barbury Photo courtesy of Fiona Scott Maxwell

Zidante went extremely well yet again to finish third in the very large and competitive CIC**. She didn't go quite as well in the dressage as she can do as it was very windy and she was a bit spooky at the flowers but none the less scored 44. She was then extremely unlucky to have one down after catching the heal of her shoe on take off and pulling it loose. Luckily Grieg Elliott our Farrier was at Barbury and very kindly rest the shoe for us before the cross country. She flew round and gave me a fantastic ride to finish inside the time and in 3rd place!!

Follow the link to watch Zidante flying round the Cross Country

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bHQlD-uv-D0

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3GGpQBm5ctA

 

High Havoc went extremely well in the CIC*** he scored a competitive 49 in the dressage. He then jumped an immaculate clear in the show jumping and really did fly round the cross country to finish just three seconds over the time. He gave me a great ride and felt like he really enjoyed it. This performance was good enough to leave us in a very creditable 9th place in a huge section with over 100 starters!! It was so tight at the top that the three seconds over the time cost us 5th place!!

 

Follow the link to watch High Havoc through the key hole combination

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kuIBPxWT2qk

 

 

 

Photo courtesy of Fiona Scott Maxwell

 

Glenusk

Ballingowan Diamond was my first ride of the weekend at the lovely Glenusk Horse Trials. He was competing in the Intermediate Novice and lead from start to finish scoring 27 in the dressage and going on to jump a lovely double clear and finished 5 marks clear of his nearest competitor.

I was back to Glenusk on the Sunday where I had Boondoggle, Bee Animas, General Opposition and High Havoc all in the Open Intermediate. All the horses went really well with Boondoggle scoring a 29, he then was very unlucky to have one down but gave me a lovely ride cross country to finish just out the placings.

Bee Animas got a bit annoyed with the flies in the dressage and scored a 32, he to was unlucky to lower one pole in the show jumping but jumped brilliantly round the cross country to also finish just out the placings.

General Opposition was another one who relly didn't appreciate the flies and scored a slightly disapointing 34. He redeemed himself with his jumping though and posted a lovely double clear to finish 6th.

High Havoc was having his first run back after Tattersalls and went brilliantly to score 29 in the dressage then jumped a smashing double clear to win the big £1000 class!!

Stonar

Mad About U a new addition to the yard was having his first ever run at Stonar. He is a lovely four year old that Ben Walden purchased about a month ago from Ireland. He is relatively green but has a fantastic attitude. He was competing in the Lycetts Four Year old qualifier and went brilliantly. He scored 29 in his dressage then had an unlucky rail down in the show jumping. He popped round the cross country very confidently and really enjoyed himself!! This was all good enough for him to win his first ever outing!!

                                                           Mad About U @ Stonar

Not to be out done Persimmon also won his section. He was competing in the Novice and did a super test and brilliant double clear to finish on a score of 29. This was his second Novice win on the trot and his fourth win of the season!!

  

Persimmon @ Stonar

Eros Moon and Amsterdam were both in the BE100. Eros Moon did a lovely test to score 22 then had two down which was a real shame, but the prize giving was going on as he was jumping and he just lost a bit of concentration. He then flew round the cross country to finish 2nd.

Amsterdam also did a lovely test and scored 29, he to had two down due to jumping too big into the combinations. He also gave me a great ride across country and finished just outside of the placings.

Longleat CIC**

Uunfortunately due to incredibly heavy rain showers on Friday and Saturday at Longleat the Intermediate Novice that Ballingowan Diamond was competing in was abandoned after the dressage and the Intermediates were canceled altogether so Bee Animas and Boondoggle both missed out on there runs.

The organisers did a fantastic job however to continue to run the CIC** in difficult conditions. General Opposition and Zidante couldn't have gone better. General Opposition did a fantastic test in a horrendous down pour he didn't falter once and kept his concentration really well not throwing his bum into the rain once. He scored a very competitive 46. Zidante also did her test in the rain, but luckily it wasn't quite as hard as when Herbie went. She went very well and was very accurate throughout and scored a great 44.

Herbie got a little stuck in the mud in the show jumping and had an unfortunate one down. Zidante did a lovely round and jumped a super clear. They then both stormed round the cross country making it all feel very easy. Hebie picked up 3.6 time faults and Zidante picked up 6.4 which was good enough for Zidante to win and Herbie to finish 2nd!!

                                                   General Opposition

Zidante

Zidante

General Opposition

Zidante

Zidante

Zidante

Zidante

This was a great result and Longleat has to be one of my luckiest events. This was my third CIC** win on the trot and to add to this achevement I was also 1st and 2nd last year!!!

West Wilts

We were at West Wilts with Persimmon doing the Novice and Amsterdam doing the BE100. Persimmon went very well, he did a lovely test to score 24 and to lead his section. The show jumping was indoor school and was causing lots of trouble as everyone has got so used to jumping out on the grass in big arenas. Pecry wasn't fazed however and jumped a great clear, he then went on to jump a super cross country round and won his section. This was his first Novice win which was really pleasing as he has been so consistent.

Amsterdam also did a great test to score 29 and lead his section. He then jumped a lovely round in the show jumping and was unlucky to have one down. He then flew round the cross country and finished 6th.

Tattersalls CCI***

Last week I was out in Ireland at Tattersalls with High Havoc doing the CCI*** High Havoc went very well and did a lovely test. He had an early draw which is never the best, but BB stayed very relaxed and did his best test at this level, he missed one change which was a shame. He scored 51 which was good enough to leave us in sixth place going into the cross country.

The cross country was big and bold, with a lot of ditches!! Below is fence seven, I named it the Vicarage Vee!!

BB flew round the cross country giving me a great ride. We had nine time faults, which was a shame, but I played it safe coming off a bank down to a corner and put a circle in which cost us the time. This dropped us down to 11th, but I was thrilled with how he went.

BB trotted up very well on Sunday morning and definitely wasn't feeling the effects of Saturday. He then jumped an immaculate clear in the show jumping and probably produced the best round he has done to date. This was good enough to move us up to 10th place which was a great finish to a brilliant week.

Mount Ballan

I had Persimmon in the Novice. He was a little star again and did a 29 test, to be very well placed after this phase. He then had one down which was a shame as he has been so careful all season, but he felt a little tired as he has been quite busy recently. He was super cross country and jumped a lovely clear to finish 3rd.

Check out Persimmon jumping through the water at

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7_kt_MrtszU

                                                   Persimmon @ Mount Ballan
I also had Eros Moon, he was competing in the BE100. He went brilliantly and did a 28 in his dressage to be placed very well. He then went on to jump a fantastic double clear to win!! This was his first win eventing, which he really deserved as he tries so hard all the time and has been very consistent all year.

Watch Eros Moon through the sunken road.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DRnZDdMi568