Lincoln

I took Mo Cuiske and Persimmon up to Lincoln to do the Open Intermediate. 

Mo Cuiske did a lovely solid performance in his dressage and felt very secure and confident, he scored a 31.4 which left us in a competitive position. He jumped a great round in the show jumping and was incredably unlucky to have a fence down. He made up for it though with a wonderful clear cross country, it was a tough intermediate track and although he doesn't have a lot of intermediate mileage he made it feel easy. I didn't push him for the time and he finished 9th in a very competitive section. 

Photo courtesy of Kev Blackband. Mo Cuiske cruising round the cross country. 

Persimmon was on great form again and did another lovely test, he is getting stronger all the time and seems to be getting better and better. He scored a very competitive 27.7. After not enjoying the mud at Oasby he loved the ground at Lincoln and pinged round the show jumping posting a lovely clear. I let the hand break off a little compared to Oasby on the cross country and he cruised round the course making it feel very easy. We picked up a few time faults which left us in 6th place. 

Photo courtesy of Alex Colquhoun. Persimmon flying the last at Lincoln. 

Aldon

I just had Creevagh Cooley doing her first proper BE100 and Bondi Beach doing the Novice at Aldon. 

Creevagh Cooley was fantastic again, she did another lovely test, this time scoring a 27 in incredably foogy conditions. She then jumped a brilliant double clear, the fog hadn't cleared at all so I was very relived that she could obviously see the fences a little better than I could, as she did such a good job in testing conditions and finished 2nd. 

Creevagh Cooley flying cross country in the fog!

Bondi Beach was also on great form. He did a brilliant test and scored a 28 in the Novice. He then jumped a lovely round in the show jumping and was incredably unlucky to have the middle part of the treble down after jumping in a little big. He then popped round the cross country very confidently and found it all really easy. 

Aston Le Walls Unaffiated

Unfortunately after all the wet weather we have had over the winter Aston Affiliated event was postponed, the postponed event ran over Oasby so I was unable to ride my two BE100 horses there. Instead I was lucky that Aston are so accommodating and moved my horses to their Unaffiated event. 

I had Creevagh Cooley and Bondi Beach running in the 100 class. Creevagh Cooley was running in her first ever horse trial and was a star. She scored a very competitive 28 in the dressage, I was thrilled with her as it was her first time ever in an arena. She then jumped a wonderfully confident double clear to finish 3rd. 

Creevagh Cooley in the Show Jumping

Creevagh Cooley finding the cross country so easy that she has her eyes closed!

Bondi Beach was also a superstar in his first event since I broke my wrist! He did an immaculate test and scored a leading 26. He then jumped a superb double clear. We went a little steady cross country as the ground was very gluey, but this was all good enough for 2nd place. 

Lottery Funding and Nations Cup

After a fantastic season last year, I was delighted to be asked onto the World Class Performance Program for this year. 

It is a huge boost and I am extremely excited to be included onto the program. It will be a massive help and wonderful to have access and help from fantastic trainers. 

I have already benefited from the program after attending a number of fantastic training days, where I have taken both the older and younger horses. Both the horses and myself have come away having learnt a huge amount. 

After the success of the first seasons running of the Nations Cup Series and enjoying competing in two of the world cups including the final at Boekelo I was over the moon to be asked back on the Natuons Cup squad. I hope to run both Persimmon and Mo Cuiske in a number of the World Cup events. 

Photo - thanks to eventingphoto.com Persimmon competing in the World Cup at Boekelo. 

The Season Gets Underway

After a long and very wet winter it was fantastic to get the event season underway at Oasby. I had three in the Open Intermediate, Persimmon, Mo Cuiske and Ceylor LAN. 

All three were very pleased to be out eventing again, Persimmon did a fantastic test to score 21.4! He got a little stuck in the muddy and holding ground in the show jumping and unfortunately had two down. He then jumped a beautiful, but steady clear cross country. 

Persimmon pinging in the Show Jumping

Ceylor LAN was a little feisty in his dressage, but still scored a very competitive 31.8. He jumped a wonderful round in very testing conditions in the show jumping and was unlucky to have one fence down in the treble after jumping in a little too boldly. He like Persimmon also jumped a lovely but steady clear cross country. 

Photo courtesy of Kev Blackband - Ceylor LAN on the cross country. 

Mo Cuiske was a star in his dressage and has grown up hugely from last season. He scored 27.3 which left us in the top few. He like Persimmon struggled a little in the ground in show jumping and had two down, but jumped a good round. He then jumped a lovely steady clear cross country.