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: