Osberton International and Breeding Championships

I had Bonne Amie competing in the CCI**, Mo Cuiske in the CIC* 6 year old Young Horse Championships, Ceylor LAN in the 5 year old Young Horse Championships and Andrassy Echo in the 4 year old Young Horse Championships.

Ceylor LAN was having his last run of the season and was an absolute star again. He produced a lovely test and scored 26 to lead the very competitive 5 year old championships. He then jumped a very grown up clear in the show jumping in a very atmospheric arena and kept his lead going into the cross country which was run in reverse order of merit. The cross country wasn't too testing for what he has done this year and he jumped a lovely clear inside the time to take the National Five Year Old Young Horse Championships!! He is now holder of both five year old titles and is going to have a well earned holiday over the winter.

Watch our performance here:

 

 

 

 

 

Andrassy Echo was competing in only his second ever event at the championships and took it all in his stride. Although he is a little green still he did a very sweet test with just a couple of errors towards the end, he scored a very respectable 33. He then jumped his socks off round what was a very large track for him at this point in his training, he had a very unfortunate one down when I got him in far too close to and oxer, he had no chance and came down on the back rail which was such a shame as he didn't deserve to have one down as he jumped so well and tried so hard. He gave me a lovely confident ride round the cross country and completed with a lovely clear. He finished with a real smile on his face and seemed to have really enjoyed his experience. He is now for sale as Ben my husband owns him.

Watch his performance here:

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mo Cuiske was competing in his first International competition and took it all in his stride. He coped very well with the main arena and didn't get nearly as tense as I thought he might. He made one unfortunate error in his test which was a shame as it was rather a large one!! He completely miss understood my aid to go into canter and got into a bit of a pickle!! The rest of his test was very nice though and he scored a 53.1. He then jumped fantastically both in the show jumping and across country round two tough tracks that were a big ask for him. He made them both feel easy and I am now looking forwards to next season with him.

Watch our performance here:

 

 

Bonne Amie did her test on Wednesday and produced her best CCI** test to date, scoring a 48.6 which left us in a competitive 16th place after the first phase. Unfortunately Bonne Amie let the occasion rather get to her on cross country day and wasn't her normal self. We have been working hard on getting her to relax and focus on what she is jumping all year and she has been getting better and better, but Osberton didn't quite come off as planned. She didn't relax and focus from the outset, which meant she produced some poor jumps and had a couple of near misses. After getting to about three quarters of the way round she had an annoying glance off as she hadn't focused on what she was jumping and had not seen the last element of the combination, which she ran by. After this run out I decided to call it a day and retire as she clearly wasn't on form for what ever reason. This was a very disappointing way to end the season with her for owner and everyone involved.

Gatcombe International

I had Bonne Amie doing the Open Intermediate, Mo Cuiske, Mad About U and Ceylor LAN doing the Novice and Persimmon in the CIC**

                                              Photo courtesy of Fiona Scott - Maxwell

Bonne Amie did a lovely test to score a 30.5. She jumped a beautiful clear in the show jumping and felt great. The cross country wouldn't be her favourite type of track as it is quite twisty, but she listen and jumped very well and finished with just a few time faults for 7th place in a very competitive section.

Mo Cuiske fresh from his run at Pontispool on the Monday went very well again. He did a very nice calm test, not quite as good as his one on Monday where he scored a 26 but I thought it was still a good test. So I was very shocked to see he had scored a 42!! Even when he has been a little on the naughty side he hasn't scored that badly! We put our bad score behind us and Mo Cuiske jumped a very classy double clear.

Watch out cross country here:

 

 

 

Ceylor LAN was doing his last Novice run of the season and he made it a good one. He did a lovely flowing test to score 29.5 and then went on to jump his best show jumping round to date and produced an immaculate clear. He then jumped a great, but steady clear cross country to pick up a few time faults and finish 4th.

 

Watch our cross country here:

 

                                    

 

Mad About U was doing his first Novice since his nasty virus in the summer and he didn't disappoint. He did a very smart test to score 25.5 and led his large section after this phase. He then put up a foot perfect show jumping round and jumped a great clear. As he is only five and didn't run him too quickly cross country and he picked up a few time faults, however due to his great all round performance he still won his section comfortably!!

 

Watch some of his performance here:

 

                                    

 

                                    

 

                                    

 

Persimmon was a super star again!! He won is third event on the trot and his third CIC** this season at Gatcombe. He did a very nice test with no real mistakes and scored a very competitive mark of 37.2 which put us in 2nd place going into the jumping phases. Persimmon was a little fresh and spooky in the show jumping, but still managed to jumped a faultless clear to put the pressure on the leader Lucy Jackson. Lucy also went clear show jumping but I heard her go cross country before me and she picked up 0.4 of a time fault which put her 0.1 behind Persimmons score so I knew we had to go clear inside the time if we wanted to win the Whatley Manor sponsored spa break. Persimmon flew round the cross country and finished one second inside the time!! So won the huge section by just 0.1 of a mark ahead of poor Lucy.

 

Watch our performances here:

 

                                       

 

                                       

Pontispool

We had a quick turn around after Blenhiem and headed of to Pontispool on Monday with Mo Cuiske for the Novice and Bonne Amie for the Open Intermediate.

Mo Cuiske went very well and managed to contain himself to produce a good test to score 26. I was expecting him to be a little full of himself as I hadn't been able to school him whilst I was away at Blenheim, but the team at home had done a great job and I needn't have worried.

He then did let his excitement slightly get the better of him in the showjumping and was a little over enthusiastic!! Because of this he had an unfortunate one down. He made up for it in the cross country and flew round, the ground was pretty hard so I picked up a few time faults. This was all good enough though for 4th place.

Bonne Amie also went very well, she did a lovely accurate test with no errors in it. I felt she was slightly harshly marked and scored a 32.7. She then jumped really well in the show jumping and was extremely unlucky to have the very last fence down. She stormed round the cross country and finished in 4th place.

I feel after Blenhiem that I am definitely having a little case of fourthitis!!!

Blenheim CCI***

I had Zidante doing her first ever CCI*** at Blenheim, at only eight years old she is relatively young for this level of competition, but as she had coped so well this season when she moved up to CIC*** level I made the decision that she was ready for this next step up.

She was absolutely amazing all week, we did our test on Friday and she coped with the pressures of the big arena very well. She did a lovely test and tried her heart out for me, we made a couple of small errors, one in the rein back and one of her changes was late in front. But as the quality of the rest of her work was so high she still scored very well. We got a 41.6 which was good enough to put us into 10th place going into the cross country.

Watch our test here:

 

 

 

The cross country was big, bold and technical and the toughest CCI*** track that I have seen at Blenhiem. I was quite late to go and had been watch how the course rode all morning, it was causing a lot of trouble and I was a little worried that this test might be one too far for Zidante as she hasn't had a huge amount of experience. I needn't have worried though as she flew round the track and made it all feel very easy. She felt absolutely mega and not at all green. It was a hilly course and the furthest and fastest she has been so I didn't push her for the time as I didn't want her to feel tired at the end. She finished full of running and well on the bridle. We were ten seconds over the time and picked up four time faults, leaving us in 5th place over night going into the show jumping.

Watch our cross country round here:

 

 

 

 

Zidante trotted up well on Sunday morning and didn't seem to be feeling the effects of her efforts from the day before. She warmed up well for the show jumping and I hoped she would put up a good performance as she is normally so reliable in this phase, but at a three day event you never know how they will come out and jump. Zidante however jumped like her normal self and posted a lovely clear within the time. Unfortunately  for Oliver Townend his horse wasn't feeling as good as Zidante and had a fence down, this dropped them down the order and moved Zidante and I up to 4th place!! What an amazing achievement for such a young horse!! I couldn't be more thrilled with how she went and coped with the event, she is now going to have a well earned holiday.

 

Watch our show jumping here:

 



 

 

All photos courtesy of Fiona Scott Maxwell

 

 

 

 



Burghley Young Event Horse Five Year Old Championship

I just had Ceylor LAN up at Burghley doing the BYEH 5year old final. He was an absolute star and coped with the atmosphere of the buzzy arena remarkably well. He did a nice test and scored well in this section. He then jumped beautifully round the show jumping and cross country track which is marked on style and performance and gained the best jumping mark of the day, 38 out of 40. Next we went of to the conformation section where he again scored well. All these scores put together were good enough to put us top of the pile and easily through to the final section which invites only the top ten back in.

Watch our dressage and jumping performance here:

The final section is judged on suitability and star quality and also includes a gallop. Again Ceylor LAN performed very well and was pulled in second in this section. All his marks were then added up together and he came out as the easy winner!! He won by four marks which was an amazing achievement. I am very lucky to have some wonderful young horses at the moment and now currently have in my yard the reining Seven Year Old World Champion, the reining Six Year Old National Champion and now the Burghley Young Event Horse Five Year Old Champion!!

 

 

Wellington

Wellington is a new event replacing Highclere. I only had Persimmon going and he was in the Open Intermediate. It was a lovely new event with three super cross country courses, lovely quite and flat dressage arenas and a show jumping ring that had a three day feel with all the trade stands around it.

Persimmon is on great form at the minute and did a lovely test to score 25.5 and led his section comfortably. The ground in the show jump warm up was a little tacky so I didn't over jump him, he still went in and jumped an imaculate clear and felt very grown up. He then flew round the cross country to finish just inside the optimum time and won his section and his second event in as many weeks!

Milton Keynes

I had Mo Cuiske and Ceylor LAN doing the Novice and Mad About U was doing the BE100Plus.

Mo Cuiske went very well again with further improvement to his relaxation in his dressage and scored a  competitive mark of 30. He jumped a lovely double clear, but as the ground was pretty firm and didn't push him cross country so we picked up 10.8 time faults. The cross country caused quite a few problems, so this was all good enough for 4th place.

Ceylor LAN did a lovely test and is improving in his blance all the time, he scored a 28.5 the best test of his section. He then jumped a lovely round in the show jumping and was extremly unlucky to have the very last fence down, the last part of the treble. Again as it was firm and he is such a big youngster I took him very steadily cross country, but he still finished 8th.

                                         Ceylor LAN - photo courtesy of Ultimate Images

                                          Ceylor LAN - photo courtesy of Ultimate Images

Ceylor LAN - photo courtesy of Ultimate Images

 

Mad About U was having his first run for a while after picking up a nasty virus. He was a star and did a great test to score 25 to led his section. He then jumped a lovely clear both in the show jumping and cross country and won his section. A great first run back!!

Somerford Park

I had Persimmon doing the CIC**, Bonne Amie in the Open Intermediate and Mo Cuiske in the Novice at Somerford. If anyone hasn't been up to Somerford before I can't recommend it enough, it is the most fabulous event with beautifully designed and presented cross country courses, show jumping on a lovely all weather surface and all the international classes did there dressage on a surface as well. I don't know many other one days with such great facilities.

Mo Cuiske is improving all the time and did a nice relaxed test to score 34.5, just two marks of the leading test. He then jumped a fabulous double clear, round what was the most demanding cross country track that he has jumped so far. He gave me a great ride and with just 2.8 time faults he finished 9th.


                                Mo Cuiske - Photo courtesy of Kev Blackband

Bonne Amie did her best test to date and scored a 26.4 to be well placed after the dressage. She then jumped a great round show jumping, but was very unlucky to have her first fence of the year down. She jumped a good clear cross country, but was pretty slow as she pulled a shoe off early on and was slipping all over the place. She went cross country in a very heavy down pour, which made the ground very greasy.

Persimmon was a star in the CIC**, he did a great test and led the very large and competitive section on a 39.8. He then jumped a brilliant clear in the show jumping to maintain his lead going into the cross country. The cross country was the most challenging that he would have seen, with some tricky questions and a particularly tough double of corners combination at the end of the course which caused a lot of  trouble. Persimmon flew round however and gave me a great ride to pick up a couple of time faults. This was all good enough for him to maintain his lead and win his second CIC** on the trot!!

 Persimmon - photo courtesy of Hoof Prints Photos

                                          Persimmon - photo courtesy of Hoof Prints Photos

                                         Persimmon - photo courtesy of Hoof Prints Photos

Hartpury CIC***

I had Zidante and High Havoc both in the CIC*** and Hartpury and Bonne Amie was meant to be doing the CCI**. Unfortunately Bonne Amie managed to get puss in the foot on the Monday of the event and was unable to compete which was a great shame for everyone especially her owners.

Zidante went fantastically, she produced her best three star test to date and scored a 39.4 to put us in 2nd place. She scored a 9 from every judge and got three 9's from one!! She is getting so ridable and consistent now at this level, but I still feel there is more to come. Watch our test here:

She then jumped a brilliant clear in the show jumping and loved pinging off Hartpurys great surface. Watch our round here:



Zidante was fantastic cross country and very confident with herself. She was maybe a little too confident jumping into the second water and jumped in far too big!! She pecked on landing and did a little bit of snorkeling, loosing our line to the skinny eyelash hedge which was our jump out the water. As the eyelash was numbered separately I decided as she was snorkeling to make a circle and jump the last part separately. Zidante had other ideas and once she got her nose out the water she saw the very large hedge separating the two and three star fences, locked onto it and jumped it!! As this wasn't flagged we weren't penalised but it did waste quite a lot of time which was a shame. We picked up 13.2 time, which dropped us from 2nd to 9th, but still a great performance for an eight year old. Watch our cross country here:



High Havoc also did his best test at three star level to date and not to out done by Zidante also scored a few 9's!! He scored a 41, which left us in 6th place.  He just went a little within himself in the indoor and wasn't quite as expressive as he can be outside. Watch our test here:



High Havoc then jumped a beautiful clear in the show jumping and also loved jumping off the surface. He was nearly foot perfect! Watch our round here:



He was fab cross country and gave me a great ride, we were unfortunately held on the course which broke our rhythm up some what and we picked up 3.2 time faults. But I was still thrilled with him. All this was good enough for us to finish in 3rd place for the second year running!! High Havoc seems to like Hartpury as he also finished 2nd there the year before. I am hoping we are due a win there next year! watch out cross country round here:





Somerly Park

I had Bonne Amie and Persimmon in the Open Intermediate and Mo Cuiske and Ceylor LAN in the Novice.

Bonne Amie went really well in the dressage and was her most ride able in the arena to date. She scored a 31.4 which I was a little disappointed about as I felt she would have scored better. She then jumped an immaculate double clear and finished just out the placings in 12th. Watch Bonne Amie performance by clicking on these links:

Persimmon was fantastic and produced a lovely test to score 22.7 and led his section comfortably. He then jumped two lovely clears, but I didn't chase him cross country and we picked up 3.6 time faults which left us on the same score as Gubby Leech and Smart Time. Due to him being faster than us cross country Gubby won the section and Persimmon finished 2nd. Watch Persimmons jumping rounds by following these links:

Mo Cuiske did a nice test but it is still work in progress so lots of room for improvement, he scored a 35. He then jumped a lovely clear in the show jumping and cross country, just picking up a few time faults to leave us in 7th place. Watch our performances here:



Ceylor LAN at only five was doing his second novice. He did a very nice test with some lovely work, but threw in a flying change in our medium canter which was a shame, but he still scored a 32.5. He was then a little fresh and feisty in his show jumping, I think he was pleased to be out!! He had his first fence of the year down which was a shame, but he definitely was a little too fresh to listen to me!! He then was great cross country, but I just went steadily as he is only young and I don't want to rush him. Watch our performance here:





Aston Le Walls

I had High Havoc doing the Advanced and Bonne Amie and Persimmon doing the Open Intermediate.

High Havoc was having his first run in a while as he had a short holiday after Badminton was cancelled and then preparation events leading up to Aston were cancelled! However this did not affect his performance at all. He did a lovely test in conditions that I really felt wouldn't help him as he is not too keen on the mud!! He lacked a little bit of expression as he struggled to get his toes out of the wet ground, but he was very accurate and relaxed. He scored a 27.9 and led his section.

We went back the following day for the two jumping phases. The show jumping was moved onto the surface which I think all the riders were very grateful for as the ground was pretty wet and boggy. High Havoc jumped a lovely clear show jumping and then flew round the cross country. He coped remarkably well in the tricky conditions and didn't let them affect his jump or gallop at all, he posted a fast enough time to win his section comfortably. I was thrilled with his first run back for a while and am looking forwards to his Autumn campaign.

                                         High Havoc - photo courtesy of Fiona Scott-Maxwell

Bonne Amie did a super test, but got a little stuck in her mediums and broke once which was a shame, she scored a  competitive 30. She then went on to jump a lovely clear in the show jumping and a good clear cross country. We went reasonably slowly as she is being aimed at Hartpury CCI**.

Persimmon also did a great test, but did have a couple of teenage tantrums which was a shame as the rest of his work was stunning! Even which a couple of disagreements he still managed to score a 29!! He then jumped a lovely but steady double clear and finished just out of the placings.

Barbury

I had Persimmon in the CIC**, Zidante in the CIC*** and Ceylor LAN in the 5year old BYEH class. The week started well with Ceylor LAN finishing 2nd in his young horse class, he scored a fab 29 out of 30 for the dressage, 39 out of 40 for his jumping and a 16 out of 20 for his conformation. He is now all qualified for Burghley!!

Persimmon excelled himself and did his best test to date. He was so ride able and let me really show him off. He scored a fab 35.3 which put him at the top of the leader board by 5 marks in a very competitive section which included three British Olympic team horses!! He then jumped a super clear in the show jumping and a brilliant clear cross country with just a few time faults. This fantastic performance left us ahead of affairs and Persimmon won the section comfortably. Watch our performance here:

Zidante was also fantastic, she did a brilliant test in a very atmospheric arena to score a 43.6. She made a couple of green mistakes so I can't wait to see what she can produce when she has had a little more experience. This mark was good enough for us to lead after the first day and a half of dressage, but there were a few smarter test on Friday afternoon that went ahead and left us in 4th going into the show jumping. On Saturday she jumped a lovely round in the show jumping and was very unlucky to have her first show jump of the season down. The course caused plenty of trouble so we went into the cross country in 5th place. Zidante then gave me fantastic ride around the a tough cross country course, we had a few time faults and finished the day in 8th place out of a110 starters. This included a lot of Olympic runners, not a bad result for an inexperienced 8year old. I can't wait to see what she is capable of with a bit more experience under her belt. Watch our jumping rounds here:



Stonar

I had Andrassy Echo a 4yr old doing the BE90 Lycetts 4yr qualifier, Anxiom doing the BE100 and Mo Cuiske, Ceylor LAN and Mad About U doing the Novice.

Andrassy Echo was competing in his first ever competition and was an absolute superstar!! He did a lovely test to score 30 and led his section. He jumped very well, but had one slightly green moment in the show jumping and had one down. He then jumped a very grown up and confident clear cross country to win his section and his first ever event!! As Andrassy Echo is owned by my husband he is now unfortunately for sale. He will make a lovely young horse for someone. Watch him during all three phases here:

Anxiom was another star and wasn't going to be out done by his younger stable mate!! He did a fantastic test and scored a 26.5 to lead his section comfortably. He then jumped a great double clear and gave me a great ride cross country. Anxiom is now sadly for sale, he will make a fantastic horse for someone as he is so easy to do and has a lot of talent.

Mad About U was doing his first Novice and at only 5 did a great test to score 31.5 and jumped a super clear in the show jumping. He jumped really well round three quarters of the cross country track but was unfortunately eliminated when he misunderstood a combination. Later in the week he developed a cough and a temperature so I think he was probably feeling under the weather at Stonar which would explain his uncharacteristic behaviour.

Mo Cuiske was also doing his first Novice, he got a little excited in his test when someone cantered past us and scored a 38. He then jumped a great double clear and felt very confident and mature around the cross country and found it all very easy. This was all good enough for him to finish 9th.

Ceylor LAN was another Novice first timer and at only 5 coped really well. He did a great test to score 31.5 and jumped a lovely and very mature clear round in the show jumping and also jumped a brilliant clear cross country, he was a little green at the start of the course but grew in confidence and finished really well. All this was good enough for 8th place and his first point!

Salperton

I had Bonne Amie, Persimmon and Bee Animas doing the Open Intermediate and Zidante doing the Advanced Intermediate. Bonne Amie did a lovely test to score 31.8 and then jumped a super double clear round a technical show jumping track and tough cross country course to finish 7th. Watch some of our cross country here:



Persimmon was in the same section as Bonne Amie and not to be out done he finished just behind his stable mate in 8th. He did a lovely test as well and scored 30.5, he then had a very unlucky fence down in the show jumping, but flew round the cross country. Watch some of our round here:

Bee Animas was a little feisty in his test and got a bit tense which was a little disappointing, he scored a 35.5, he then had an annoying two down as he was still a little tense and tight. He then jumped a great clear cross country. Watch some of our round here:



Zidante was a star in her first run back since trying to do embryo transfer during May. She did a good test, but was a little excited to be out and didn't always quite contain herself! She scored a 27.9 and then jumped an immaculate double clear to win her section. watch some of our round here:



Pontispool

I had Bonne Amie and Bee Animas doing the Open Intermediate, Persimmon doing the NRF and Mo Cuiske, Mad About U and Ceylor LAN doing the BE100

Bee Animas did a very nice test and was more relaxed than at Aston Le Walls. He scored a 29.1 which left him well placed. He then jumped a lovely clear show jumping and was great cross country, the ground was on the firm side so I didn't go too quickly. His performance however was good enough for 6th place.

Bonne Amie was much calmer than at Aston as well and did a very polished test to score 30.9. She to jumped a fantastic double clear and without going too quickly because of the firm ground she still managed to finish 5th.

Persimmon was super and lead the dressage on a great score of 24.1. He then jumped a great clear show jumping and was super cross country. Again I didn't push him cross country as the ground was firming up all the time, we had a couple of time faults, and finished 2nd by 0.1 of a penalty! This was all good enough though to qualify us for the British Novice National Championships at Gatcombe.

Mo Cuiske was on his best behaviour after his cheeky test at Mount Ballan, he did a lovely test to score 29.5 He then jumped a great clear in the show jumping. I didn't run him or any of my other BE100 horses cross country as the ground had firmed up even more from the Open Intermediate day and I didn't want to run the babies on hard ground. Watch Mo Cuiske's Dressage and show jumping here:

Mad About U did another lovely test and scored 29. He then jumped a lovely round in the show jumping, but was unlucky to have one down. The judges took a very long time to ring the bell and I think he got a bit bored!! Watch his dressage here:



Ceylor LAN did another fantastic test and scored a leading mark of 24 and jumped a lovely clear in the show jumping. I think he was a little annoyed that we didn't go cross country and I denied him his third win on the trot!! Watch his dressage and show jumping here:







Mount Ballan

I had Mo Cuiske, Mad About U and Ceylor LAN doing the BE100. Mo Cuiske was rather full of himself and was a little cheeky in his test and scored a 37.5 which put him a little of the pace. He then continued to be rather exuberant in the show jumping and had one down through a lack of concentration. He made up for it though in the cross country and gave me a fab ride. Please follow the links to watch some of his round.

Mo Cuiske

Mad About U was a superstar and did a fab test to score 25, he then jumped a lovely grown up double clear to finish on his dressage and to win his section well. Follow the links to watch him cross country:



Mad About U - Getting some air!!

Mad About U

Ceylor LAN was a superstar as well. He was in the 5yr old Lycetts qualifier class and scored a 26 in the dressage which was the leading test of the section. He then jumped a fab double clear and finished on his dressage mark to win his section and qualify for the 5 year old Championships at Osberton in October. What was extra special and nice about his win, was that Diana Bown one of his owners organises Mount Ballan and has been waiting for over 30 years of running events for one of her horses to win at her event!! Watch Ceylor LAN by following these links: