Now my season has finished I would just like to take this opportunity to thank my wonderful horses, owners, sponsors and team at home who have made this season so successful and rewarding and without whom none of this would be possible.
Thank you to my amazing horses and their owners:
Persimmon - Jane and Frank Inns
Zidante - Ben Walden
Mo Cuiske - Lindsay and Peter Caldwell
Creevagh Cooley - Lindsay and Peter Caldwell
Ceylor LAN - Samantha Wilson, Jackie Owen and Diana Bown
Vendredi Biats - Sally Lloyd Baker, Diana Bown, Sally Eyre and Samantha Wilson
Acis - Katie Davis
Ard Core - Tim and Angela Porter
Freckleton Mythago - Katie and Jamie Davenport
Burtonhill - Tor Verdin
My fabulous sponsors:
Mole Valley
Toggi
Topspec
Champion
Woof Wear
Wow Saddles
Aqueos
Equiclass
Flying Changes
Hemingbrough Horseboxes
And last but by no means least my hard working and hugely supportive team:
Ceylor LAN was the only horse I had competing out in France. We were drawn thirteenth to go so our dressage was on Thursday. It was rather disappointing to have been drawn quite so early especially as we had an early draw the year before.
Photo courtesy of Uptown Eventing.
Ceylor LAN did a super test, he made very few mistakes and didn't get at all tense in the atmosphere. The test probably lacked a little of the wow factor compared to the test he did at Osberton, but I still felt he showed some high quality work. We scored 46.2 which was a rather disappointing mark for the work he produced. This left us in equal 11th going into the cross country.
Watch our test here:
The cross country course was a beautifully presented track, I don't think there are many other tracks in the world where you jump, owls, hedgehogs, dragons and ducks as well as jumping off a roof of a house! It wasn't the biggest of tracks or the most technical but with the crowds they draw at Le Lion there was plenty for the young horses to look at. Ceylor LAN flew round the course and found it very easy. He finished comfortably inside the time and moved up the 10th going into the show jumping.
Photo courtesy of Uptown Eventing.
Ceylor LAN trotted up really well on the Sunday morning. The show jumping wasn't huge, but it was causing a fair amount of trouble. Ceylor LAN warmed up very well and jumped a lovely round. He found the course a little on the small side and unfortunately had the second part of the double down. It was his first pole since his first run of the season in the mud at Oasby, it was a huge shame to have one down as a clear round would have moved us up to 3rd. The four faults however did keep us in our 10th place.
Watch our round here:
Although it wasn't quite the finish to the season that we had dreamed of I was still delighted with his overall performance and am very excited about moving up the levels with him in the future as he finds it all so easy.
I had four rides at Osberton. Mo Cuiske in the CCI**, Ceylor LAN in the CIC** 7 year old Championships, Creevagh Cooley in the 6 year old Championships and Vendredi Biats in the 5 year old Championships.
The week didn't totally go to plan. Vendredi Biats did a very good test although a little green in places the big atmospheric arena. He scored a very competitive 31.3, which was just a few marks of the leader who was on a 28.
He then jumped very well, but had two uncharacteristic two fences down. Both were towards the commentary box which he was looking at and lost a bit of concentration.
Unfortunately the cross country didn't quite go to plan either! We had a very annoying stop at fence three, some rails! He stopped about six strides away when he suddenly caught sight of the witch behind the fence which was part of the decorations. Once he had got over the shock of spotting a witch he trotted forward and jumped the fence nicely. He then jumped foot perfectly around the rest of the course and finished very happy. He is now going to have some fun doing a bit of cubbing before having a well earned holiday.
Mo Cuiske did some nice work in his test, but got very excited in places which let his good work down. He has done so little this year after fracturing his hind pedal bone in march and he just couldn't quite contain his excitement about being at a three day event again. He scored a 53, which left us half way down the order. As he wasn't in an overly competitive position and the course hadn't changed a huge amount from last year so he wasn't going to learn much his owners and I decided to save him for another day.
Creevagh Cooley worked beautifully all week, but couldn't quite hold it together for her test. After her big win at Gatcombe she was rather pleased with herself and was being some what of a show off in her test. She did some nice work but also made some mistakes when she didn't quite want to listen to me. She scored a 50.6 which was a little disappointing as it want nearly as good as she can do.
She then jumped a lovely clear in the show jumping. As she has had a busy year and has achieved so much in her first season eventing we decided not to run her cross country as she didn't need another run after her fantastic round at Gatcombe. She is now going on a well deserved holiday.
Ceylor LAN was the star of the event though. He did a fantastic test, he showed real expression and felt completely rideable. He made one small mistake in a simple change when he did a lovely transition to walk then thought I had asked for halt, other than that he was nearly perfect. He was rewarded with a brilliant mark of 36.7 and led the class by five marks!
Watch our test here:
He then show jumped a lovely easy clear in the show jumping and could really have done with them being a bit bigger.
Watch our round here:
He then gave me a fantastic ride round the cross country. The track was relatively straight forward and galloping, which was perfect after a twisty turny and slightly trappy track at Gatcombe. He was foot perfect the whole way round and felt in great form. He finished on his dressage score and won his third age title on the trot.
He has now won the 5, 6 and 7 year old Championships a fantastic achievement which I am extremely proud of.
At Gatcombe I had new ride Ard Core running in the Open Intermediate, Vendredi Biats in the Novice, Creevagh Cooley in the CIC* and Ceylor LAN and Mo Cuiske in the CIC**
Ard Core can get a little tense in the dressage so I was delighted with our first outing together. She didn't blow up and tried very hard, there were moments of tension in movements that she struggles with so we have plenty to work on over the winter, but there were lots of positives to take forward as well. She scored a 33.6. We didn't jump as it was never our plan.
Watch our test here:
Vendredi Biats was doing his first novice and was a star in his test. He did a some lovely work and only showed some greeness in his medium trot and the odd transition. I was thrilled with the over all quality of his work and he scored a very competitive 27.
Watch our test here:
He then jumped a fantastic clear in the show jumping and didn't find the step up to Novice at all taxing.
Watch our round here:
He gave me a very grown up ride round the cross country apart from a miss understanding at a corner early in the course when I changed my whip over before it and got it caught between my saddle and point 2 jacket lanyard. So when he went a bit wobbly I couldn't correct him as I was all tangled up! He then jumped it beautifully once I was able to give him some direction.
Watch our round here:
Creevagh Cooley was a star from the outset at Gatcombe. She did a fantastic test and feels so much more established in her work. She scored a brilliant 41.1 and led the 99 strong class.
Watch our test here:
She then jumped a very keen but clear show jumping round. After doing an intermediate as her last run she found it all rather small, it was great to feel her so confident and full of herself. Her clear meant she retained her lead going into the cross country.
Watch her round her:
Photo courtesy of MDR Photo and Eventing Stig
Creevagh Cooley looking very pleased with herself after her clear round with her owner Lindsay Caldwell. Photo courtesy of MDR Photo and Eventing Stig.
After her intermediate run at Wellington she found the cross country very easy. She cruised round really happily and made it feel very simple. We finished one second over the time, but she still won the section really comfortably by nearly 5 marks!!
Watch her round here:
Photo courtesy of Fiona Scott Maxwell
Mo Cuiske did a very good test in the CIC**, he was second in which wasn't ideal. He scored very well from one judge, but unfortunately the other judge didn't like the test so much and was 25 marks adrift. This left us in 14th place on a 48.8.
Watch our test here:
The two star ran with the cross country before the show jumping and Mo Cuiske didn't quite seem on form round the cross country. He really didn't enjoy the twisty track and never got going. He very disappointingly picked up two stops, having never had a cross country penalty in his career it was a really shame to blot his copy book.
Photo courtesy of Fiona Scott Maxwell
He made amends though with a brilliant clear in the show jumping. I think it was his best round to date and he felt super.
Watch our round here:
Ceylor LAN was fantastic. He did a super test, showing some high quality work. He made some very annoying mistakes in his canter strike offs when we got our wires crossed, it was a real shame as the rest of his work was so good. Even with his mistakes he still scored a brilliant 43.8 which had us heading the 98 strong field.
Watch our test here:
After not having a great ride round the cross country on Mo Cuiske I was a little concerned that the twisty track might knock his confidence before Le Lion, but I needn't have worried. He jumped fantastically the whole way round and was nearly foot perfect. For a big horse he was very nippy and wasted very little time round all the twists and turns. He picked up 4 time faults, but with the track causing so many problems this left us in the lead going into the show jumping with a fence in hand.
Watch our round here:
Photo courtesy of Fiona Scott Maxwell
The horses in 2nd and 3rd place both had a fence down, so I was lucky enough to go into the ring with a comfortable two fences in hand. Ceylor LAN however jumped beautifully and didn't breath on anything. He finished winning the class with 9 marks in hand!
I just had Acis at Moreton Morrell in the BE100. It was his last run of the season before going back to his owner for a well deserved break.
He did a fantastic test again, he has improved so much from his first run at the beginning of August. He kept a lovely swinging rhythm and was completely relaxed and focused through out the test. The judge rewarded him with a fabulous score of 23.5.
He then jumped a lovely round in the show jumping, unfortunately we had one down when I went for a stride that wasn't really there, giving Acis not much of a chance to be able to jump the fence properly.
He then flew round the cross country, he didn't look at anything and felt really confident. He finished inside the time and won his section. It was wonderful that we finally managed to get our nose in front as Acis has finished in 2nd place in his last three runs and throughly deserved his win.
I just had Acis at Purston and he was doing the BE100.
He did a fantastic test and is now feeling so established in the arena. He kept a wonderful swinging rhythm and showed some lovely work. He scored the leading mark of 22.5!!
Unfortunately having never had a pole down since starting eventing this summer he had one down when he found one if the distances a little short. He jumped really well so it was a real shame for him when he had done such a good test.
He then stormed round the cross country and found it all very straight forward. He finished on a 26.5 and finished 2nd by 0.5 of a mark!!
I just had Persimmon doing the CCI*** at Blenheim, after his couple of hiccups at his pervious CCI***'s in the spring the original plan was to contest in the CIC*** for 8 and 9 year olds as I felt he could do with a confidence boost. However after him storming round Wellington Advanced and feeling on top form Persimmons owners and I decided to move him to the main class.
He did a fantastic test and only made a couple of very small mistakes. He coped with the atmospheric arena really well and did some lovely expensive work. All three of the judges marked him very evenly and he scored a very competitive 38.2 which left us in 6th place going into the cross country.
Watch our test here:
The cross country was in typical Blenheim style, it was big and bold and had plenty of tricky combinations on it to catch you out. Persimmon gave me a fabulous ride round though and was near on foot perfect everywhere. As he wasn't prepared for the CCI until only a few weeks before it started I felt he lacked a gallop or two so I was a little concerned with his fitness as Blenheim is hilly and long course. Due to this I just took him at a sensible pace and gave him a little time to fill his lungs at the tops of the hills. I needn't have worried though as he was plenty fit enough and finished full of running, so a rather large lesson learnt, I have my horses far fitter than I think and probably don't need to do as much canter work as I believe I need to. He finished with 6.4 time faults which put us in equal 6th with Vittoria Pannizon. After Persimmons blips in the spring I couldn't have been happier with the way he jumped round and he felt very much back to his best!
Watch our round here:
On the Sunday morning Persimmon trotted up really well and felt really jolly when I have him a little loosen up and jump in the morning. We then jumped in the afternoon. Persimmon jumped a beautiful round and didn't look like touching a twig, but unfortunately he went a little green when he had to jump towards the members enclosure over the second last and just lost a little concentrating which resulted in us having it down. It was a disappointment to have a fence down when he had been jumped superbly but he is still very young and will have learnt a huge amount from it. The show jumping caused plenty of trouble so we maintained our 6th place.
Watch our round here:
I couldn't have been more delighted with Persimmon and his performance over the entire week. He tried his up most through out and felt absolutely fantastic. Having not thought he would be ready to step back up to CCI*** level in July to come to Blenheim and finish 6th in September and to do it in such a classy way made me feel extremely proud of him. He is now going to have a well earned holiday.
At Goring I had three doing the BE100, Vendredi Biats, Acis and Cooley Delta and one horse a new ride Freckelton Mythago doing the Intermediate Novice.
Acis was a star again he did a lovely solid test with greatly improved transitions. He scored a 30.
He then did a fantastic double clear, although he only started eventing this summer he already feels like a pro! He finished on his dressage score and took 2nd place.
Vendredi Biats did a nice test, but was feeling a little uninspired compared to his normal performances. He lacked a little concentration at times so made a couple of annoying errors. He scored a 32.5.
He then jumped a very solid double clear. He felt very confident which is great as his next run is round a novice. He to finished on his dressage and picked up 5th place.
Cooley Delta is getting better and better. She is still weak, but is improving all the time. She did her best test to date and scored a very competitive 29.5.
She like the boys jumped very confidently round both the show jumping and cross country and posted a lovely double clear. Unfortunately the scorers had made an error with our dressage mark and put on the board that we had got a 41, as this wasn't a competitive score I just hacked round the cross country and we picked up 1.6 time faults. This was really annoying as if I had known our dressage mark was so good I could have easily got the time. Her time faults dropped her down unfortunately to 6th place.
Cooley Delta pinging around the cross country.
New ride Freckleton Mythago did a very pleasing test and scored a 31.8.
I had six rides at Wellington, Acis and Cooley Delta in the BE100, Vendredi Biats in the BE100+, Creevagh Cooley in the Intermediate, Mo Cuiske in the Open Intermediate and Persimmon in the Advanced.
Acis was a star and is improving hugely all the time, he did his best test to date and although still struggling a little with his size in a small arena he did a lovely test and scored 28.
Watch our test here:
He then jumped a lovely confident clear round the spookiest track he has seen.
Watch our round here:
He then gave me a very grown up ride round the cross country and found it all pretty easy. He finished on his dressage score to come 2nd.
Cooley Delta who is still rather green did her best test to date and scored a 32. She is still very weak so I have high hopes for her when she strengthens up.
Watch our test here:
She show jumped very well, but was extremely unlucky to have the first fence down. The filler was low down and she just dropped her head to look at it and just caught the top rail in the process which was a real shame.
Watch our round here:
After being extremely green in her first run at Smiths Lawn and a little green still at West Wilts I was delighted with how she had improved. She jumped very confidently the whole way round, including the direct route into the water which was causing trouble. She finished inside the time and in 9th place.
Vendredi Biats coped very well with his first Novice test. As he is only 5 and still a little unbalanced on grass I couldn't show his medium trot and canter off as well as I would have liked, in a small arena and with a baby by the time you get into medium it's time to come back!
Watch our test here:
He then jumped a lovely clear in the show jumping and seemed to jump even better round the bigger track.
Watch our round here:
He then flew round the cross country and found it very easy. He finished on his dressage score for 2nd place in his first BE100+.
Creevagh Cooley was super in her second intermediate. She still struggles a little in a small arena, but did as good a test as she can at that level and for her age. She scored 32.3, which left her up amongst the top few.
She then jumped a lovely round in the show jumping and was very unlucky to have one fence down when she caught it behind, I think she got a little distracted by all the trade stands.
She then flew round a tough intermediate track and gave me a brilliant ride, I just can't believe she is only six as she didn't feel green in the slightest! We picked up a few time faults, but this was still all good enough for her to finish in 4th place.
Creevagh Cooley loving the cross country.
Mo Cuiske was a little on the feisty side after two quick runs at Aston and Somerford. He did a nice test but wasn't as rideable as he can be and scored 33.2.
He then jumped really well in the show jumping and seemed to be really enjoying the mud, he was extremely unlucky to have one down.
After feeling a little on the fresh side and not in the most competitive of positions I decided to give him a quiet run round the cross country. He jumped round really well and finished nice and relaxed.
Persimmon was the star of the weekend. He did a lovely test in the 8 and 9 year old advanced section, he made one error in his walk to trot transition when he misunderstood me and went into canter so that lost us a couple of marks. Due to the high quality of the rest of his work he scored one of the best marks of the section a 29.1.
By the time we went to show jump the rain had made the ground rather soggy and the track was causing a lot of trouble. Persimmon jumped his socks of though and felt fantastic. He jumped a brilliant clear and didn't seem to notice the mud at all.
Like the show jumping the ground on the cross country was pretty wet, but Persimmon seemed to relish it. He gave me the most fantastic ride cross country and was near on foot perfect everywhere. After our blips in his spring three stars I was over the moon to have him back on track and jumping so confidently and enjoying it so much. His performance was so good he won the competitive section by over nine marks! The old Persimmon is back!!
I had Persimmon and Mo Cuiske in the Open Intermediate, Creevagh Cooley in the CIC* and Ceylor LAN in the CIC**.
Mo Cuiske was much more settled in the dressage after his first run back at Aston last week. He did some super work and scored a 27.3. Watch our test here:
He then jumped a brilliant clear in the show jumping. He flew round the cross country and made it all feel very easy. He picked up a few time faults as he is still not quite fully fit. His 3.6 time cost us a win, but I was thrilled with his performance and his 8th place.
Persimmon did another of his customary lovely dressage tests and scored a 27.7.
Watch our test here:
He also jumped a foot perfect clear in the show jumping and made it feel very easy
Watch our round here:
Persimmon then popped round the cross country really confidently and seemed to love every minute of it. As he has bigger events in mind I didn't chase him cross country and we picked up a few time faults, which left us in 5th place.
Ceylor LAN did what I thought was his best two star test to date, he felt super and I was really pleased with the progress he was showing. Unfortunately the judges didn't agree with me. He scored a disappointing 45.6 which left us in 29th place. One judge had us in 4th and the other in 55th, so a
slight difference!
Watch our test here:
He then jumped brilliantly in the show jumping and is feeling more and more balanced and rideable.
Watch our round here:
The CIC** course was tough enough with a few great questions and Ceylor LAN answered them all brilliantly giving me a great ride round the cross country. We picked up 1.6 time faults, but with his two faultless jumping performances he moved right up the order and finished a fantastic 11th out of 105 starters!
Creevagh Cooley also did what I felt was her best test to date and this time the judges agreed! She still has lots of things to work and improve on but I was delighted with how she is coming on. She did some lovely work and scored a brilliant 40.9 which but is second behind Imperial Cavalier not bad for a 6 year old in her first season eventing!
Watch our round here:
She then jumped a keen but great clear in the show jumping. After here Intermediate at Aston she felt like she found it rather small and easy.
Watch our round here:
She then stormed round the cross country finding it all very easy. She didn't bat an eyelid at anything and is really starting to feel very professional. Her super round kept us in 2nd which I was over the moon with.
I have applied for Le Lion D'Angers with both Ceylor LAN and Creevagh Cooley so I am now keeping my fingers crossed that our results will be good enough to catch the selectors eye.
I had four rides at West Wilts, one of my most local events. Burtonhill was doing the Novice and the three five year olds Acis, Cooley Delta and Vendredi Biats were doing the BE100.
Burtonhill was much improved from his first run of the year at Smiths Lawn. He did a really good accurate test and scored a very competitive 31.
He then jumped beautifully in the show jumping, keeping a great rhythm and jumping really well. He then was foot perfect round the cross country, he found it all very easy and gave me a great ride. We picked up a few time faults as he is still not quite fully fit as he didn't come here until July, but he still finished 7th.
Vendredi Biats was on brilliant form again and did what I felt was his best test to date. He was really concentrating and trying so I was very pleased that the judge thought the same, giving us a super 24.5.
He then jumped a fantastic clear in the show jumping.
Vendredi Biats flying a show jump.
He then gave me a great ride cross country and is feeling more mature all the time. He finished on his dressage score and won his section.
Acis was having his second ever outing and did another great job. He did a good test, but unfortunately broke into canter in one movement when he misunderstood my aid, but he still scored a 32.5.
He to like Vendredi Biats gave me a super ride round the cross country and finished on his dressage score to take 9th place.
Cooley Delta although very green did a good job in her section. She is still struggling a little in the dressage as she is so weak, but she showed some glimpses of great work. She scored a 36.5.
She then jumped very well and confidently in the show jumping for a lovely clear.
Cooley Delta showing her very tidy technique off.
She then jumped clear round the cross country, although still green she was much improved from Smiths Lawn and seems to be improving all the time.
I had Persimmon and Mo Cuiske in the Open Intermediate and Creevagh Cooley in the Intermediate.
Persimmon was re routing from Hartpury CIC*** as I felt he was still lacking a little confiedence after his fall at Bramham and felt it would benefit him to have a fun easy run, rather than another tough run. I was really pleased I swapped classes as I think it did Persimmon the world of good. He did a lovely test and was forward through and elastic, he scored a leading mark of 26.8.
He then jumped a foot perfect clear in the show jumping and stormed round the cross country feeling really happy and confident. We picked a couple of time faults as I knew he had few in hand over his nearest rival so he still won his section comfortably.
Persimmon looking like he is enjoying himself. Photo courtesy of Fiona Scott Maxwell.
Mo Cuiske was having his first run back since fracturing his hind pedal bone at Lincoln in march. It was brilliant to have him back out, he was understandably a little jolly in his test and scored a 34.1. He then jumped a brilliant double clear and felt like he hadn't away at all. He picked up 1.6 time and finished in 8th place.
Creevagh Cooley who only started eventing this year and is only six was a star in her first intermediate. She did a good test, but unfortunately got her legs in a bit of a muddle in one medium canter so lost a few marks. She scored a 34.6.
She jumped a super round in the show jumping and was extremely unlucky to have one down as she gave everything feet!
Creevagh Cooley pinging a Show Jump
She then flew round the cross country and made it feel easy. I didn't go to quickly as it was her first run at this level.
I just had Jane and Adrian Andrew's Drewmain Dark Star in the 4 year old class. It was only her second ever competitive outing and she handled it all superbly. She scored well in all the three first phases. She scored a 22 for the dressage, 33 for her jumping which was the 3rd highest out of 54 competitors! She then scored 11 out of 12 for confirmation and 7 out of 10 for type which put her in 3rd going into the final gallop.
Watch her performance here:
She behaved very well trotting round with everyone for the final. Unfortunately she found the individual gallop rather too much fun and did a couple of bucks which meant she didn't show her gallop off as well as she could have done. This unfortunately dropped her down to 6th, but I was still over the moon with her performance and how well she coped with such an atmospheric arena.
I had four rides in the BE100 at Smiths Lawn, Vendredi Biats, Burtonhill, Acis and Cooley Delta.
Vendredi Biats did a lovely test again and scored a very competitive 25.5. He then jumped a brilliant double clear and finished 3rd.
Burtonhill who I rode for Tor Verdin at the beginning of last year whilst she was pregnant with her first child is back again for me to do a few events on as Tor has just had twins. He was having his first run of the year. He was a little excited in the dressage and scored a 34.5. He then jumped a lovely double clear to finish just out the placings.
Acis who is a new ride was doing his first ever event. He is a lovely big 5 year old and I was thrilled with how he coped with his first run. He did some super work in his test and just made a few green mistakes when he lost a little balance and scored a 32. He then jumped a very grown up double clear and seemed to love every minute of it all and even finished 7th!!
Cooley Delta was also doing her first ever event as well, she showed some really promising work in her test, but got a little worried when a vehicle drove up the gravel path rather fast right next to her arena and then proceeded to stop and start taking the rope down. She scored a 37, which I felt was a little harsh. She then jumped a lovely round in the show jumping and was extremely unlucky to have the very last fence fence down. She was a little green in places on the cross country but grew in confiedence as she went round and finished very pleased with her clear.
I only had Ceylor LAN running in the Advanced at Aston. Having produced him from a 4 year old it was really exciting to have him contesting in his 1st Advanced and even more special as he is only 7 years old!!
Photo courtesy of Fiona Scott-Maxwell
He was a star from the start, although green for this level of dressage he did some very smart work. He has never done canter half passes or flying changes in a test before so I was thrilled with how he coped with it. He got a little muddled in his first change, it was initially clean, then he had a little buck and got his legs tangled up. His second change however was much better being big and clean. He was lying in 8th place after his dressage which I was over the moon with particularly as it had not only this years Badminton winner in it, but last years as well!!
Watch our test here:
He jumped a superb clear in the show jumping and made it feel very easy. I was a little annoyed with myself though as I managed to pick up two time faults, which he really didn't deserve.
After a lot of hard work on Nigel Taylor and his teams part and a few thunder storms the going was very good on the cross country. Ceylor LAN skipped round clear taking all the direct routes and feeling very confident and grown up. He is so scopey and made it feel easy which is a bit scary given his age! I didn't push him for the time as I wanted him to have a nice experience. Our 14 time faults nudged us just outside the top ten and into 11th place. I was over the moon with his performance and am very excited for what the future holds.
At my most local event I just had two rides, Creevagh Cooley in the Open Novice and Vendredi Biats in the BE100.
Creevagh Cooley did a lovely test and scored a 31.5 which put her in third place, I was thrilled with her as she was up against far older and more experienced horses.
She then jumped a lovely clear in the show jumping and found it all very easy.
Although Beanie Sturgis had put in a huge amount of effort with the ground, even watering it, it still was quite firm. As Creevagh Cooley has bigger aims this summer I just took her steadily cross country. Even with her 13.2 time faults she still finished 8th.
Vendredi Biats showed some lovely work in his test, but was a little cheeky at times. He scored a super 27, even with a few rather large bucks in it!!
He then jumped a super clear in the show jumping and popped round the cross country extremely confiedently, again as it was firm I didn't go very quickly, even so I was a little surprised to have picked up 11.6, due to this he finished just outside the top 10 in 11th.
I had Ceylor LAN and Persimmon in the CIC**, Creevagh Cooley in the Novice and Vendredi Biats in the BYEH class.
Ceylor LAN was in the top arena by all the trade stands, it was very windy when he did his test (even a board blew down in his test!) and he found the atmosphere a little more exciting than he normally does. He got a little tense at times, when he does he tends to go a little behind the bit and then drops the contact. He did this a little in his test which was a shame as when he was to the contact and relaxed in his mouth his work was super. Even with a bit of tension creeping in his work was of such a high standard that he still scored a 43 which put him in 8th place going into the show jumping. Although Barbury had a great grass covering and a little rain, I decided not to run him cross country as he had had a couple of runs on the firmer ground at Nunney and Salpeton and his next run is at Aston where he is doing his first advanced.
Persimmon did a super test and showed some lovely work, he was a little unsteady in the contact in his walk, but other than that I was thrilled with his work. I was a little disspointed however with his mark. He scored a 43.7 which put us just outside the top ten.
He then show jumped on the Saturday, he jumped really well, but was very unlucky to have the first and last part of the treble down. I'm not sure if something caught his attention, but it is very unlike him to have two down.
He then jumped a lovely confident clear round the cross country. We went very steadily as the ground was firm enough and he was only running to regain his three star qualification that he had lost. So although it wasn't a winning run it was a very pleasing outting with the main objective achieved.
She show jumped really well and was incredibly unlucky to have the very last fence down. She jumped into the treble quite big and ran out of room by the last part. It was a real shame as she hadn't had a single fence down all year. We decided against running her cross country as the ground was firm and she had nothing to prove.
Vendredi Biats did some lovely work in the BYEH class, he scored well in the dressage and having jumped well it was a really shame when he looked into the distance when jumping the planks. He then had it down behind due to his lack of concentrating. He didn't score brilliantly in his jumping so didn't make it through to the gallop, which was a shame, but he showed some high quality work and I was really pleased with his over all performance.
I only had my 5 year old Vendredi Biats at Chepstow, he was doing the BE100. He did a very pleasing test, he was very soft and his transitions had improved again from Nunney. He got his first 9 and scored a very competitive 28.
He then had a very unfortunate one down in the show jumping. He lost a little balance down hill and had it down behind. He made up for it though with a lovely clear round the cross country. He picked up 0.4 of a time fault and finished in 3rd place. So far from three runs he has had three top 3 placings, not bad for a baby!!
I had Ceylor LAN doing the Open Intermediate, Persimmon doing the Advanced Intermediate and Creevagh Cooley doing the Novice.
Ceylor LAN was a star once again. He did a superb test and really enjoyed being in a big arena again. He did some lovely established work and was rewarded with a great mark of 22.7.
He then jumped a wonderful clear round the show jumping track which was causing a fair amount of trouble. He made it feel easy and was so confident in himself.
He then flew round a beautifully presented course that had plenty of educational combinations. He would have learnt a lot from the course and although some of the fences would have been new to him he made it feel all very easy. He picked up a few time faults as I wasn't chasing for the time, but this was still good enough for him to win the section very comfortably.
Ceylor LAN pinging a cross country fence courtesy of Fiona Scott Maxwell
Persimmon was having his first run since Bramham, he was feeling rather jolly in the dressage and made some silly mistakes. He thought it was very boring doing a test with no changes so popped some in to spice the test up!! He scored a 36.7.
He then jumped the most beautiful clear in the show jumping. It was his best round of the season so far, he was so balanced and gave them all feet to spare.
He jumped brilliantly cross country and popped through the water with out a care in the world, this was a huge relief after our two unfortunate tip ups at our three days in the waters. He felt very confident which was great. We had an annoying glance off at the double of corners, we had a misunderstanding but he jumped straight through on the second attempt once he understood where he was going.
Creevagh Cooley did a very pleasing test and showed more improvement again. Unfortunately the judge didn't agree and we scored a very disappointing 43. I was a little shocked when I heard our score in the show jumping but after looking at the score board and noticed that not one of us in the first ten tests got a sub 40, I wasn't quite so depressed!!
She then pinged round the show jumping and jumped another clear, so far she has had 9 clears from 9 starts!!
She then whizzed round the cross country and again made it feel easy. She was completely straight at all the corners and arrow heads and now feels like she is nearly ready to step up to Intermediate. Even with her awful dressage mark and a few time faults she still finished 7th.
