Aston Le Walls

I had Persimmon, Mo Cuiske and Ceylor LAN in the Advanced and Vendredi Biats, Creevagh Cooley and Wish Upon A Star in the Intermediate.

Persimmon was having his first run since Bramham and felt fantastic. He did a super test, he was extremely accurate and very rideable. He scored a 26.8 which put us in second place by 0.1 of a mark!
Watch our test here:

He was then on absolute springs in the show jumping, he felt brilliant and jumped a superb clear.
Watch our round here:

He then flew round the cross country, he made it feel easy and really enjoyed himself! I think he was extremely happy to be back out eventing again. He picked up just a few time faults to win his section.
Watch our round here:

Mo Cuiske was doing his first ever advanced and was a star. He was a little green at times in his test, but showed some quality work to score 35.

He then tried his heart out in the show jumping and jumped an immaculate clear.
Watch our round here:

He then stormed round the cross country making it feel effortless, he certainly didn't notice the step up in level. We picked up a few time faults to finish in 8th place in extremely large and competitive section.
Watch our round here:

Ceylor LAN was having his first run since Tattersalls, he was a little jolly in his test which resulted in a couple of annoying mistakes, but it was great to have him out feeling so well. He scored a 32.

He then jumped a great clear in the show jumping and tried extremely hard when I saw a bit of a long shot into the double, he did all he could to leave the poles up for me.
Watch our round here:

He then gave me a lovely ride round the cross country and was really enjoying being out, unfortunately his exuberance got the better of him at a ski jump down to a corner. He ballooned the ski jump and rather than landing on the slope going down to the corner he over jumped and we landed right at the bottom of the hill in a bit of a heap so we couldn't get to the corner. It was a real shame as he had been jumping so well, but it was a green error that we will both learn from.

Vendredi Biats who is only six, was doing his first Intermediate. He was a little star and found the step up easy. He did a lovely test with just a few baby wobbles in it when he was a little green. He scored the second best mark of 30.5.
Watch our test here:

He then did a wonderful clear in the show jumping in tricky conditions and out of very dead deep ground.
Watch our round here:

He then stormed round the cross country and didn't seem to find it any more taxing than a novice which was brilliant. He seemed to really enjoy himself and the horrible conditions didn't seem to put him off at all. Him picked up just a few time faults to finish in a brilliant 3rd place.
Watch our round here:

Creevagh Cooley did a good test, but found the ground in the arenas quite hard work. She scored 33.

She then jumped a good clear in the show jumping. Unfortunately she didn't quite feel her normal self on the cross country. She wasn't travelling very well which is very unlike her so I made the decision to pull her up so we could find out why she was a little off colour and save her for another day.

New ride Wish Upon A Star was having his first run for along time. He stayed very relaxed in his dressage and did a super test to score 24.

He then jumped a great round in the show jumping and was extremely unlucky to have one down. I think he was still a little surprised to be out and was lacking a bit of match practice.

He then was super cross country and gave me a lovely ride until the coffin at the third last. I think it was just a bit of rustiness as he hadn't been out for so long. He unfortunately suddenly saw the ditch as he was jumping the first element he suddenly saw the ditch and left his leg, depositing me in the process! It was a real shame but the most important thing is we were both ok. We will be doing a bit of ditch practice over the next couple of weeks before our next outing.

European Call Up

I am absolutely delighted to be able to say that Persimmon and I have been selected to be part of the squad of twelve traveling up to Blair in September for the European Championships. 

I am absolutely delighted for Percy and his ever supportive owners Jane and Frank Inns. Percy has been extremely constant at 3* level having been 2nd at Bramham, 6th at Blenheim and 5th at Boekelo CCI***'s as well as finishing 3rd at Belton and 4th and Barbury CIC***'s. 

I can't say a bigger enough thank you to all my wonderful owners, horses, support team, World Class and sponsors. All of whom have helped me hugely to achieve this dream. 

Dauntsey

I had Vendredi Biats in the Novice and BGS Captain Morgan in the Open Novice.

Vendredi Biats did another superb test, I am just so impressed with how he has developed and improved since the spring. He scored a leading mark of 23.3.
Watch our test here:

He then jumped a super clear in the show jumping.
Watch our round here:

I decided not to run him cross country as although Beanie had done a great job with the ground it was still on the firm side and after his recent runs where he has been so good I decided he didn't need the extra mileage.

BGS Captain Morgan was on great from again and did a lovely test to score 29.3 which put him in 3rd place after this phase.

He then jumped a super clear, round both the show jumping and the tough cross country track. He picked up .4 of a time fault which left us in 3rd place.

Upton

I had Ard Core in the Open Novice and BGS Captain Morgan in the Novice HC.

Ard Core did a much improved test since her last run and stayed a lot more happy and relaxed. she scored a competitive 30.

She then jumped a wonderful clear in the show jumping and found it extremely easy.
Watch our round here:

 

She then jumped a lovely clear round the cross country. As it was only a novice she found it very easy and cruised round happily. We picked up a couple of time faults which left us in 7th place.

BGS Captain Morgan is really becoming a dressage pro. He did another lovely test and apart from getting a little upset in the rein back he was nearly foot perfect. He scored a leading mark of 25.3.
Watch our test here:

He then jumped a wonderful clear in show jumping.
Watch our round here:

He then jumped a super clear round the cross country. It was such a shame he was running HC as this performance would have put him in the winners slot.

Barbury

I had Vendredi Biats in the Novice, BGS Captain Morgan in the Intermediate Novice and Creevagh Cooley and Mo Cuiske in the CIC**.

Vendredi Biats was the star of the week, he did a fantastic test to score an amazing 16.3! He is getting so rideable in his tests and is now finding the novice tests easy.

He then jumped a brilliant clear in the show jumping.
Watch our round here:

He then gave me a fantastic ride round the cross country. It was a tough novice track and he made it feel extremely easy. He finished on his dressage score to win his section by 7 marks!
Watch our round here:

BGS Captain Morgan did another constantly good test, and didn't find the step up to intermediate too much of a struggle. He scored a very competitive 29.8. 

He then jumped a super clear in the show jumping and again found the step up easy. 

Watch our round here:

Unfortunately the cross country didn't quite go to plan, he gave me a great ride bar taking a dislike to the first water. The water was died and this took him by surprise, he jumped through it the second time really well and was great through the next water. It was a real shame as he would have finished 2nd in a very competitive class.

Mo Cuiske did his best 2* test to date, he showed some great work and is getting more and more consistent with every run. He scored a very competitive 43.3.
Watch our test here:

 

He then had a very unfortunate two fences down in the show jumping. He found the arena which over looked the whole sight a little distracting. He jumped the majority of the course extremely well so it was a huge shame he got a little distracted at times.

He then gave me a lovely ride round the cross country and made it feel very easy, bar one misunderstanding at the owl hole on the mound. I just really think the he thought the hole was far too small for him to fit through. It was a really shame as he is such a bold cross country horse, but he really didn't understand what he had to do.

Creevagh Cooley is getting better and better in the dressage as she is getting stronger in her body and more confident. She scored a 42.2 which left her in 8th going into the show jumping.
Watch our test here:

She then jumped an immaculate clear in the show jumping and coped with the tricky arena exceptionally well.
Watch our round here:

We then a slight disaster cross country! She was giving me a fantastic ride and making the track feel easy, but we unfortunately took a dunking at the crocodile water. This water always claims a number of victims every year and like Mark Todd stated in his column in Horse and Hound I too would love to see it burned! Looking at the photos of the fall it looks like she just didn't see the green hedge in the green water. She is such a careful horse so having a fall is completely out of character for her, but the most important thing is both she and I are none the worse for it other than getting a little damp!

Purston Manor

I just had the one ride at Purston, BGS Captain Morgan. He was running in the Open Novice.

He did a lovely rhythmical test, staying really rideable throughout and showed some lovely work. He just made one small error when he miss understood my leg aid and offered me canter rather than trot. He scored a very competitive mark of  25.
Watch our test here:

He then jumped a foot perfect clear in the show jumping.
Watch our round here:

He then flew round the cross country giving me a great ride to finish comfortably inside the time to win his section. 

Watch our round here: