I am absolutely over the moon to say that Ceylor LAN and I have been selected to go to Rio as part of the British Olympic team. To say it is a dream come true is an understatement. Ceylor LAN aka Sprout, is an extremely special horse, I have been lucky enough to have been producing him for his wonderful owners, Diana Bown, Samantha Wilson and Jacky Owen from the start of his career as a four year old. At only 9 he is the youngest British horse across all the disciplines flying out to Rio.
I can't thank my wonderful team who are behind me 100% of the way as without them this REALLY would not be possible. I am so lucky to not only have Sprouts owners supporting me, but all my others horses owners past and present who have aloud me to produce their equally special horses. Without them I really would not have been able to learn and develop into the rider I am.
I need to say a huge thank you to my outstanding home team, Emily Slater, Jo Jones, Greig Elliott, Marnie Campbell, Peter (Spike) Milligan, Winston Williams, Maggie Turner, Gavin Scofield, Nick Burton, Tracy Robinson and Peter Murphy.
My extremely loyal sponsors, Mole Valley, Toggi, Topspec, Champion, Fairfax Saddles, Woof Wear, Equiclass, Flying Changes, Aqueos and Yeoman Haylage.
U.K. Sport Lottery funding has been a huge help and support over the years and has helped massively in helping me to get the best out of my horses.
And last, but by no means least my ever so supportive and loyal family, my husband Ben, my mum Jane and dad Peter and my wonderful sisters and brother, Charlotte, Lucy and George.
Thank you to everyone who has supported me over the years without all of you this dream would not be possible.
Sunday, 10 July 2016
Barbury
I had Vendredi Biats, Billy Bounce and Ceylor LAN in the CIC**.
Vendredi Biats did another super test, he got a little tight in the half 10m circle and is still perfecting his pirouettes but did some lovely solid work to score 44.2 and sat in 10th place out of over 90 starters.
Watch our test here:
He then jumped a brilliant clear in the show jumping to move up to 7th before the cross country.
Watch our round here:
The cross country was a tough, twisty and undulating track and Vendredi Biats made it feel extremely easy. He was very bold and jumped rather exuberantly into the quarry and did well to not crumple on landing. Other than that he was pretty much foot perfect and finished on his dressage score in 4th place.
Watch our round here:
Billy Bounce did what I and his owners thought was a great test and equally as good, if not better than at Nunney unfortunately the judges didn't agree with us and he scored a 51.4 which was extremely disappointing.
He then jumped a brilliant if not keen and exuberant double clear. We decided not to run him cross country as the ground was on the firm side for him.
Ceylor LAN was having his last outing before Rio, after having a brilliant cross country school on the Thursday we never intended on jumping him at Barbury, but just went to have a run through a test. He was on great form and did a lovely relaxed test and is now hopefully perfectly prepped for Rio.
Vendredi Biats did another super test, he got a little tight in the half 10m circle and is still perfecting his pirouettes but did some lovely solid work to score 44.2 and sat in 10th place out of over 90 starters.
Watch our test here:
He then jumped a brilliant clear in the show jumping to move up to 7th before the cross country.
Watch our round here:
The cross country was a tough, twisty and undulating track and Vendredi Biats made it feel extremely easy. He was very bold and jumped rather exuberantly into the quarry and did well to not crumple on landing. Other than that he was pretty much foot perfect and finished on his dressage score in 4th place.
Watch our round here:
He then jumped a brilliant if not keen and exuberant double clear. We decided not to run him cross country as the ground was on the firm side for him.
Ceylor LAN was having his last outing before Rio, after having a brilliant cross country school on the Thursday we never intended on jumping him at Barbury, but just went to have a run through a test. He was on great form and did a lovely relaxed test and is now hopefully perfectly prepped for Rio.
Chepstow
I just had Drewmain Firefly and The Last Euro running HC in the BE90.
Drewmain Firefly did a very nice correct test so I was pretty disappointed with his mark of 36.3.
He then jumped a fantastic clear in the show jumping.
Watch our round here:
He then jumped a super clear round the cross country and made it feel very easy.
Watch our round here:
The Last Euro did his customary super test to score a leading test of 28.8.
He then jumped a super double clear, unfortunately I forgot to charge the camera so it ran out of battery and we were unable to get any footage of him.
Drewmain Firefly did a very nice correct test so I was pretty disappointed with his mark of 36.3.
He then jumped a fantastic clear in the show jumping.
Watch our round here:
He then jumped a super clear round the cross country and made it feel very easy.
Watch our round here:
He then jumped a super double clear, unfortunately I forgot to charge the camera so it ran out of battery and we were unable to get any footage of him.
Sunday, 26 June 2016
Treborough Hill
I just had The Last Euro and Drewmain Firefly doing the BE90 Open.
The Last Euro did another super test, he is getting more balanced and established everytime he goes out. He scored a fantastic mark of 21.5 to lead his section.
Watch his test here:
Again like his dressage he is improving everytime he goes out and jumped a lovely clear in the show jumping.
Watch our round here:
He then jumped a lovely clear round the cross country and found it all very easy to win the section.
Drewmain Firefly did some nice work in his test, but got a little distracted by all the cyclist whizzing past his arena competing in an Iron Man competition. It was a shame as we know he is capable of better. He scored 33.3.
He then jumped a super clear in the show jumping, feeling very confident and mature.
Watch our round here:
He jumped a brilliant clear round the cross country to finish just outside the top ten.
The Last Euro did another super test, he is getting more balanced and established everytime he goes out. He scored a fantastic mark of 21.5 to lead his section.
Watch his test here:
Again like his dressage he is improving everytime he goes out and jumped a lovely clear in the show jumping.
Watch our round here:
He then jumped a lovely clear round the cross country and found it all very easy to win the section.
Drewmain Firefly did some nice work in his test, but got a little distracted by all the cyclist whizzing past his arena competing in an Iron Man competition. It was a shame as we know he is capable of better. He scored 33.3.
He then jumped a super clear in the show jumping, feeling very confident and mature.
Watch our round here:
Thursday, 23 June 2016
Nunney
I had Snow Wind SN in the BE100 plus, Virage Des Falaises in the Intermediate Novice and Vendredi Biats, Billy Bounce and Mo Cuiske in the CIC**.
Snow Wind SN did a lovely test and coped with the step up to the more tricky novice test well. She scored a competitive 27.3.
She then jumped a super round in the show jumping, she had a very unlucky fence down. She hit it so lightly that I had no idea that we had even touched it. I was really pleased with the rhythm she kept and how she jumped.
She then jumped a lovely easy clear round the cross country, unfortunately I was a little speedy and picked up a couple of time faults for going to fast, which left us in 5th place.
Virage Des Falaises did a great test and is getting stronger and more balanced every time he goes out. He scored a 30.7.
He then jumped a great clear in the show jumping. It was one of our best rounds to date and he feels ready to step up to intermediate.
Watch our round here:
He then gave me a great ride round the cross country, he just had a steady run in preparation for his first intermediate at Farley Hall. We picked up a few time faults to finish 7th.
Watch our round here:
Vendredi Biats did his best test to date and other than a little stumble in his half pass made very few
mistakes. He scored a brilliant 33.4 to lead the section.
Watch our test here:
Snow Wind SN did a lovely test and coped with the step up to the more tricky novice test well. She scored a competitive 27.3.
She then jumped a super round in the show jumping, she had a very unlucky fence down. She hit it so lightly that I had no idea that we had even touched it. I was really pleased with the rhythm she kept and how she jumped.
She then jumped a lovely easy clear round the cross country, unfortunately I was a little speedy and picked up a couple of time faults for going to fast, which left us in 5th place.
Virage Des Falaises did a great test and is getting stronger and more balanced every time he goes out. He scored a 30.7.
He then jumped a great clear in the show jumping. It was one of our best rounds to date and he feels ready to step up to intermediate.
Watch our round here:
He then gave me a great ride round the cross country, he just had a steady run in preparation for his first intermediate at Farley Hall. We picked up a few time faults to finish 7th.
Watch our round here:
mistakes. He scored a brilliant 33.4 to lead the section.
Watch our test here:
He then jumped well in the show jumping, but was a little fresh and lacked a little concentration which resulting in us having a very annoying fence down.
He was super round a strong enough CIC** and felt very confident and grown up. He finished comfortably inside the time to finish 2nd.
Watch our round here:
Billy Bounce did a very good test and I am beginning to feel we are really starting to form a partnership together. He scored a very competitive 40.0 to sit in 6th place.
Watch our test here:
He then jumped our best round together to date in the show jumping, he was giving himself a little more time and didn't rush quite so much.
Again like in the dressage, round the cross country I really felt we were beginning to form a partnership and starting to really know and understand each other. He gave me a great ride and
finished inside the time to finish 3rd.
Watch our round here:
Mo Cuiske did his best test to date, he was far more connected and did some super work. He scored a very competitive 37.2.
The following day he went back to show jump and after not feeling his usual self and having 3 down we decided to withdraw him.
Sunday, 12 June 2016
Bramham
I just had Ceylor LAN in the CIC*** at Bramham. He did a super test but made a couple of annoying mistakes, he took a sudden dislike to the letter A and had a silly spook at it and very annoyingly changed behind when he came back from his medium canter. It was a shame as he did some super work. The judges were marking very strongly and with his couple of mistakes he scored 42.6 to sit in 3rd place.
Watch our test here:
After our start box issue at Chatsworth I was a little concerned that the experience may have worried him, but he was perfect to start and flew round the cross country giving me a fantastic ride. After a fair bit of over night rain the ground was practically perfect, but it had got quite cut up down the hills so I went a little steadier in those places. We picked up 2.8 time to unfortunately drop down to 6th. I was thrilled with his performance though.
Watch our round here:
He trotted up really well on the Sunday morning and looked as fresh as a daisy. The show jumping track was big a square and had a lot of turn backs on yourself. Ceylor LAN jumped a fantastic round and felt on springs, he gave everything feet to spare which was brilliant, but unfortunately we picked up 1 time fault, I'm sure this was because we spent so much time in the air! His super jumping round moved us up to 4th but our 1 time fault kept us from 3rd. Now it's just a case of waiting and keeping our fingers crossed that we receive that all important phone call from the selectors soon!
Watch our round here:
Sunday, 5 June 2016
Pontispool
I had Billy Bounce and Mo Cuiske in the Open Intermediate, Virage Des Falaises in the Intermediate Novice, Snow Wind SN in the BE100 and The Last Euro and Drewmain Firefly in the BE90.
Billy Bounce did some lovely work in his test, but made a couple of silly mistakes when we weren't quite on the same wave length. He scored a competitive 25.9.
He then jumped a super clear in the show jumping.
Watch our round here:
He then flew round the cross country giving me a great ride to pick up just 1.2 time faults and finish in 5th place.
Watch our round here:
Mo Cuiske also did a great test to score 26.1.
He then jumped a great clear in the show jumping having managed to pull his shoe off in the warm up!
Watch our round here:
With his shoe back on he flew round the cross country over the first six fences, but unfortunately managed to pull the same shoe off again over fence six, it went hurtling ahead of us and left me with only one option but to pull him up. The ground was on the firm side and as it was so early on round the track I didn't want to risk him breaking his foot up any further and making himself sore.
Virage Des Falaises was on great form again, he did a super test to lead his section on a 25.9.
Watch our test here:
He then jumped an immaculate clear round the show jumping.
Watch our round here:
He stormed round the cross country effortlessly and finished inside the time on his dressage score to win the section.
Watch our round here:
Snow Wind SN did a great test to score 26.3.
She then jumped very well round what was a very technical BE100 track and was very unlucky to have the last fence down when we made a little too much ground up down a distance.
Watch our round here:
She then gave me a lovely ride round the cross country to finish inside the time and in 5th place.
Watch our round here:
Billy Bounce did some lovely work in his test, but made a couple of silly mistakes when we weren't quite on the same wave length. He scored a competitive 25.9.
He then jumped a super clear in the show jumping.
Watch our round here:
He then flew round the cross country giving me a great ride to pick up just 1.2 time faults and finish in 5th place.
Watch our round here:
Mo Cuiske also did a great test to score 26.1.
He then jumped a great clear in the show jumping having managed to pull his shoe off in the warm up!
Watch our round here:
Virage Des Falaises was on great form again, he did a super test to lead his section on a 25.9.
Watch our test here:
Watch our round here:
Watch our round here:
She then jumped very well round what was a very technical BE100 track and was very unlucky to have the last fence down when we made a little too much ground up down a distance.
Watch our round here:
She then gave me a lovely ride round the cross country to finish inside the time and in 5th place.
Watch our round here:
The Last Euro did another super test and is getting better and better in this phase, he scored a leading mark of 25.5.
Watch our test here:
He then jumped very well round a technical track.
Watch our round here:
He was great round the cross country which was a step up from mount ballan. He finished inside the time and would have won if I hadn't have had to have ridden HC.
Watch our round here:
Drewmain Firefly did a lovely test that was an improvement on his first outing as he was getting more relaxed and confident in the arena.
He then jumped a lovely clear in the show jumping.
Watch our round here:
He flew round the cross country and felt really happy and as though he had come on a lot from his first run. He would have finished in 2nd place if I hadn't of had run ride HC.
Watch our round here:
Tweseldown
I had Mo Cuiske and Billy Bounce in the Open Intermediate.
Mo Cuiske did a great test to score 24.6 and led the section. Unfortunately he had a couple down in the show jumping which was a great shame as he has been show jumping really well this spring. He then flew round the cross country feeling on great form and back to his old self after an uncharacteristic run at Bicton.
Billy Bounce also did a super test to sit just behind Mo Cuiske on a 25. He jumped a super double clear and just picked a handful of time faults up after I let the hand break off a little. This was all good enough for him to finish in 8th place.
Mo Cuiske did a great test to score 24.6 and led the section. Unfortunately he had a couple down in the show jumping which was a great shame as he has been show jumping really well this spring. He then flew round the cross country feeling on great form and back to his old self after an uncharacteristic run at Bicton.
Billy Bounce also did a super test to sit just behind Mo Cuiske on a 25. He jumped a super double clear and just picked a handful of time faults up after I let the hand break off a little. This was all good enough for him to finish in 8th place.
Rockingham
I had Vendredi Biats doing his first CIC** and Virage Des Falaises doing our first CIC*.
Vendredi Biats did a great job in his first test at this level and although felt a little spooky at times in the atmospheric main arena he did some lovely work. He scored a super 37.5 to lead the section.
Watch our test here:
He jumped a fantastic clear round the show jumping and made it feel very easy.
Watch our round here:
He flew round the cross country effortlessly and finished comfortably inside the time to win the section. Out of his last five runs he has had four first places and one second. He is now going to have a well earned holiday before building up to Nunney CIC**.
Virage Des Falaises did some lovely work in his test but made a couple of green mistakes which was a shame. After doing a lovely square halt he was sure I meant walk forwards rather than rein back so when he did go backwards it was a little tense as he hates to do the wrong thing, he also had a little misunderstanding after a transition back to trot but the more he grows in confidence in himself the better he will get. He still scored a very competitive 43.4.
Watch our test here:
He then jumped a super clear in the show jumping, to move up the order a few places.
Watch our round here:
He stormed round the cross country making it feel extremely easy and finished inside the time. He finished on exactly the same score as the second placed rider, but as I was one second faster across the country we got slotted into 3rd place.
Vendredi Biats did a great job in his first test at this level and although felt a little spooky at times in the atmospheric main arena he did some lovely work. He scored a super 37.5 to lead the section.
Watch our test here:
He jumped a fantastic clear round the show jumping and made it feel very easy.
Watch our round here:
Virage Des Falaises did some lovely work in his test but made a couple of green mistakes which was a shame. After doing a lovely square halt he was sure I meant walk forwards rather than rein back so when he did go backwards it was a little tense as he hates to do the wrong thing, he also had a little misunderstanding after a transition back to trot but the more he grows in confidence in himself the better he will get. He still scored a very competitive 43.4.
Watch our test here:
Watch our round here:
Mount Ballan
I had Vendredi Biats and Virage Des Falaises in the Novice Regional Final, Snow Wind SN in the BE100 and first timers The Last Euro and Drewmain Firefly in the BE90 open.
Vendredi Biats did another super test to score 20.5 and led the section just ahead of his stable mate Virage Des Falaises.
He then jumped a lovely clear in the show jumping and pooped round the cross country finding it incredibly easy. He picked up a couple of time faults, but still won the section well.
Virage Des Falaises who is still green at intermediate level did a fantastic test to sit in second with a 22.1.
He to jumped a super clear in the show jumping. He also jumped well round the cross country but picked up a few time faults as it was quite a twisty track for a fairly big young horse. He finished in 4th place and like Vendredi Biats qualified for the Novice Championships and Gatcombe.
Snow Wind did another lovely test to score a very competitive 29.
She then jumped a great clear round both the show jumping and cross county to win her second event on the trot.
Ex racehorse The Last Euro did a very calm and obedient test. He was super considering this was his first show and his first time seeing white boards. He scored a super mark of 25.3.
Watch our test here:
He then jumped a great clear round the show jumping.
Watch our round here:
He then jumped a very grown up a bold clear round the cross country to finish on his dressage score in 3rd place.
Drewmain Firefly was also having his first outing and his first time in white boards and did a very solid test to score 30.
He to jumped a lovely clear in the show jumping.
Watch our round here:
He jumped a very nice clear round the cross country taking everything in his stride and really enjoying his first run.
Chatsworth
I had Persimmon in the CIC*** and Ceylor LAN in the ERM CIC*** section.
Persimmon didn't quite feel himself in the dressage and did a disappointing test for him, he scored 51.7. It's very unlike him to go the way he did in the arena as he is so strong in this phase usually.
He then jumped a great clear in the show jumping, although he jumped well I still felt he wasn't his normal self so withdrew him from the cross country as it wasn't worth risking him if he was under par.
Watch our round here:
Ceylor LAN did a stunning test in the ERM section. He did his best work to date in the arena and was awarded some super marks including a perfect 10 for his halt before his rein back. This was particularly satisfying as we have been working really hard on his halts at home. He scored a personal best at the level for both he and I taking neatly 9 marks of his previous best! He scored a 32.9 which put us 4 marks ahead of the rest of the field.
Watch our test here:
Persimmon didn't quite feel himself in the dressage and did a disappointing test for him, he scored 51.7. It's very unlike him to go the way he did in the arena as he is so strong in this phase usually.
He then jumped a great clear in the show jumping, although he jumped well I still felt he wasn't his normal self so withdrew him from the cross country as it wasn't worth risking him if he was under par.
Watch our round here:
Ceylor LAN did a stunning test in the ERM section. He did his best work to date in the arena and was awarded some super marks including a perfect 10 for his halt before his rein back. This was particularly satisfying as we have been working really hard on his halts at home. He scored a personal best at the level for both he and I taking neatly 9 marks of his previous best! He scored a 32.9 which put us 4 marks ahead of the rest of the field.
Watch our test here:
He then jumped an immaculate clear in the show jumping. He gave everything so much room I was nearly worried we would get a time fault as he spent so much time in the air! His great clear gave us a six point lead going into the cross country.
Watch our round here:
Cross country was run in reverse order, so when we started circling the start box there was no one left in the warm up. Unfortunately a combination of this and the massive crowd gathered round the big screen at the finish (right near the start) with Alice Fox-Pitt giving some great live comentry it all got a bit to much for Ceylor LAN and he was very reluctant to start. We got going in the end, but having jumped fence one already 44 seconds over the time I knew I was never going to make that up round a hill track like Chatsworth.
Although our poor start was hugely disappointing once we got going Ceylor LAN was foot perfect round the track and gave me a beautiful ride and was nearly perfect in all three phases so we went home dissapointed not to have won but very encouraged by his performance.
Watch our round here:
Aston Le Walls
At Aston I just had Billy Bounce in the Open Intermediate and Vendredi Biats in the Intermediate.
Billy Bounce was a little excited in his dressage, having not been out in a while due to wet ground and cancelled events. He did some nice work, but was a little inattentive at times. He scored a 30.9.
He then jumped a great clear in the show jumping, he got quite keen and excited round one corner to a related distance, but he stayed vert careful through out.
Watch our round here:
He then gave a lovely ride round the cross country, we didn't go too quickly as it was his first run for a while.
Vendredi Biats was on great form again, he did a super test to score a very competitive 26.1, he is getting more and more consistent and established at this level.
He then jumped an easy clear in the show jumping.
Watch our round here:
He then whizzed round the cross country feeling really nippy and finding it all very easy. He finished inside the time to finish in 2nd place.
Billy Bounce was a little excited in his dressage, having not been out in a while due to wet ground and cancelled events. He did some nice work, but was a little inattentive at times. He scored a 30.9.
He then jumped a great clear in the show jumping, he got quite keen and excited round one corner to a related distance, but he stayed vert careful through out.
Watch our round here:
He then gave a lovely ride round the cross country, we didn't go too quickly as it was his first run for a while.
Vendredi Biats was on great form again, he did a super test to score a very competitive 26.1, he is getting more and more consistent and established at this level.
He then jumped an easy clear in the show jumping.
Watch our round here:
Moreton Morrell
I just one runner at Moreton Morrell, Snow Wind SN in the BE100. She did a lovely test, which included a perfect 10 for a halt, she scored a leading mark of 26.3.
She then jumped an immaculate clear, round both the show jumping and the cross country to win her section comfortably.
She then jumped an immaculate clear, round both the show jumping and the cross country to win her section comfortably.
Tuesday, 3 May 2016
Withington
I only had Vendredi Biats in the Intermediate and Virage Des Falaises in the Novice at Withington.
Vendredi Biats was on fantastic from again, he did some lovely work in his test and feels more and more conected every time he goes in the arena. He made a few silly mistakes when he didn't quite listen, but he still led the section on a 26.6.
Watch our test here:
He jumped a lovely round in the show jumping and was very unlucky to have the second fence down. It was going towards a big electric pylon and I think he was busy having a good look at that as he sat on it behind.
Watch our round here:
He then flew round what was a big and technical course that was causing plenty of trouble. He found it all very straight forward and gave me a great ride. He picked up just a few time faults to win his second intermediate in just over a week.
Watch our round here:
Virage Des Falaises did a super rhythmical test with just the odd little mistake as he finds a 20x40 arena still a little on the small side. He scored a brilliant mark of 19.5, unfortunately though someone else scored a 19.3 yo put us in second.
Watch our test here:
He jumped a lovely clear in the show jumping and is getting more and more balanced in the arena.
Watch our round here:
He then whizzed round the cross country, which like the intermediate was on the tough side. He found it all very easy and finished comfortably inside the time to finish second.
Watch our round here:
Sunday, 24 April 2016
Bicton
I had Virage Des Falaises in the Novice, Vendredi Biats and Mo Cuiske in the Intermediate and Snow Wind SN in the BE100.
Virage Des Falaises kicked the event off well with a super test, he made one mistake in his counter canter when he got a little excited as thought he should be doing a flying change! He has been learning them at home so I was pleased he was thinking about them, but it was a shame it was in his test. He scored a very competitive 26.
Watch our test here:
He then jumped a lovely clear show jumping.
Watch our round here:
He jumped beautifully round the cross country and gave me a lovely ride. We picked up a few time faults but he still won his section well!
Vendredi Biats did a fantastic test to score 26.4 and led his section.
Watch his test here:
He then jumped a wonderful clear in the show jumping and made it feel easy.
Watch our round here:
He stormed round the cross country in pretty wet and muddy conditions. He made the course and the testing conditions feel very easy and gave me a great ride. We picked up a handful of time faults to win the section by 9 marks!
Mo Cuiske did a really good test and was much improved from his first outing of the year. He did some really consistent and solid work. He scored 32.3 to be well up with the leaders and to tie with Chilli Morning!
He then jumped a wonderful clear in the show jumping, pinging round and feeling really good. Unfortunately the cross country really didn't go to plan, unlike Vendredi Biats who really enjoyed the sloshy wet conditions Mo Cuiske really didn't enjoy the ground and lost confidence in it when he started slipping and loosing his feet. He had two very uncharacteristic stops at relatively straight forward fences when he lost trust in the footing. It was a huge shame as it was so unlike him and he had gone so well in the first two phases. Most importantly though he is back in one piece and will now head to Withington where hopefully the ground will be more in his favour.
Snow Wind SN did some very nice work in her test and is getting more supple and consistent all the time. She made a couple of baby mistakes in her two halts which dropped her marks down which was a shame, but otherwise she was great. She scored a competitive 31.5.
Watch our test here:
She then jumped a fantastic clear in the show jumping.
Watch our round here:
She jumped a super clear round the cross country, she was extremely bold and straight and made the course feel easy to finish in 2nd place.
Watch our round here:
Virage Des Falaises kicked the event off well with a super test, he made one mistake in his counter canter when he got a little excited as thought he should be doing a flying change! He has been learning them at home so I was pleased he was thinking about them, but it was a shame it was in his test. He scored a very competitive 26.
Watch our test here:
He then jumped a lovely clear show jumping.
Watch our round here:
He jumped beautifully round the cross country and gave me a lovely ride. We picked up a few time faults but he still won his section well!
Vendredi Biats did a fantastic test to score 26.4 and led his section.
Watch his test here:
He then jumped a wonderful clear in the show jumping and made it feel easy.
Watch our round here:
Mo Cuiske did a really good test and was much improved from his first outing of the year. He did some really consistent and solid work. He scored 32.3 to be well up with the leaders and to tie with Chilli Morning!
He then jumped a wonderful clear in the show jumping, pinging round and feeling really good. Unfortunately the cross country really didn't go to plan, unlike Vendredi Biats who really enjoyed the sloshy wet conditions Mo Cuiske really didn't enjoy the ground and lost confidence in it when he started slipping and loosing his feet. He had two very uncharacteristic stops at relatively straight forward fences when he lost trust in the footing. It was a huge shame as it was so unlike him and he had gone so well in the first two phases. Most importantly though he is back in one piece and will now head to Withington where hopefully the ground will be more in his favour.
Snow Wind SN did some very nice work in her test and is getting more supple and consistent all the time. She made a couple of baby mistakes in her two halts which dropped her marks down which was a shame, but otherwise she was great. She scored a competitive 31.5.
Watch our test here:
Watch our round here:
Watch our round here:
Wednesday, 20 April 2016
Belton CIC***
I had Ceylor LAN and Persimmon at Belton doing the CIC***. It was a massive section with 122 starters!
Ceylor LAN was a star all weekend and posted his best 3* dressage mark to date, a 41.5. He did a lovely test, but he made a few little mistakes, including spooking at the mud splattered bored! There is still room for improvement, but he is getting stronger and more established every time he goes out.
He then jumped his socks of in the show jumping and jumped a lovely clear in the time.
Watch our round here:
He jumped a super and quick clear round the tricky and very cleverly designed cross country track. We picked up 3.2 time faults which left us in a brilliant 8th place.
Watch our round here:
Having only had one run so far this season Persimmon was I little fresh and feisty in his test, he still did some lovely work, but just not quite to the standard that we know he is capable of. He scored a 45.1.
He jumped an absolutely perfect round in the show jumping giving everything feet and felt on springs.
Watch our round here:
He then flew round the cross country and was pretty foot perfect. He was a little keen so I didn't fully allow the handbrake off! We picked up 10 time faults and finished in 20th place.
Watch our round here:
Ceylor LAN was a star all weekend and posted his best 3* dressage mark to date, a 41.5. He did a lovely test, but he made a few little mistakes, including spooking at the mud splattered bored! There is still room for improvement, but he is getting stronger and more established every time he goes out.
He then jumped his socks of in the show jumping and jumped a lovely clear in the time.
Watch our round here:
Watch our round here:
He jumped an absolutely perfect round in the show jumping giving everything feet and felt on springs.
Watch our round here:
Watch our round here:
Monday, 11 April 2016
Portman
I had Virage Des Falaises doing the Intermediate Novice and Snow Wind SN doing her first BE100.
Virage Des Falaises did some super work in his test and found the step up to the trickier intermediate test relatively easy, he made a couple of baby mistakes, like cantering out of his halt wen he was being too keen to please. He still scored a very competitive 28.2.
He then jumped a good round in the show jumping, but was very unlucky to have two down when he got stuck in the pretty tacky ground. He gave me a great ride round the cross country, but as we had had two down and weren't overly competitive we just hacked round as the ground was quite wet and tacky.
Snow Wind SN was a star in her first event, she did a very relaxed and pleasing test to score 24.3. She tried really hard and only made one slight mistake, when I hadn't been clear enough in what direction we were going in and she thought she was meant to go outside the board at C.
Watch our test here:
She then jumped a lovely round in the show jumping and was extremely unlucky to have the very last fence down when she slipped on take off and had it down behind.
Watch our round here:
She flew round the cross country and gave me a very mature and confident ride, which was extremely pleasing. She finished inside the time and in 6th place.
Virage Des Falaises did some super work in his test and found the step up to the trickier intermediate test relatively easy, he made a couple of baby mistakes, like cantering out of his halt wen he was being too keen to please. He still scored a very competitive 28.2.
He then jumped a good round in the show jumping, but was very unlucky to have two down when he got stuck in the pretty tacky ground. He gave me a great ride round the cross country, but as we had had two down and weren't overly competitive we just hacked round as the ground was quite wet and tacky.
Snow Wind SN was a star in her first event, she did a very relaxed and pleasing test to score 24.3. She tried really hard and only made one slight mistake, when I hadn't been clear enough in what direction we were going in and she thought she was meant to go outside the board at C.
Watch our test here:
Watch our round here:
Burnham Market
I had Ceylor LAN in the CIC***, Persimmon in the Open Intermediate and Vendredi Biats and Billy Bounce in the Open Novice.
Ceylor LAN did a much improved test in the three star compared to last year, he felt much stronger and more up hill and did some great work, we made some annoying mistakes in his rein back and last halt which were costly. He scored a 46.6 which I was a little disappointed with as I thought he'd shown some lovely work.
Watch our test here:
He skipped round the cross country, finding it all very effortless and easy and his concentration was much better than Gatcombe! We picked up a couple of time faults which left us in 3rd place.
Watch our round here:
Billy Bounce was a little more excited in his test than at Gatcombe, we made some silly little mistakes through lack of concentration, but over all his work was very good. He scored a 33.5.
He then jumped a super clear in the show jumping, it was so nice to finally get I'm out on the grass and jumping in a competition at last!
He jumped a lovely but steady clear round the cross country and felt very pleased and happy to be finally going cross country again.
Ceylor LAN did a much improved test in the three star compared to last year, he felt much stronger and more up hill and did some great work, we made some annoying mistakes in his rein back and last halt which were costly. He scored a 46.6 which I was a little disappointed with as I thought he'd shown some lovely work.
Watch our test here:
He jumped a super clear in the show jumping, absolutely pinging round.
Watch our round here:
He jumped brilliantly round the cross country and gave me a lovely ride. We didn't go flat out as its still early in the season, so picked up 7.4 time faults. This left us just out the top ten in 11th place.
Watch our round here:
Persimmon was having his first run of the season, he was a little fresh and feisty in his dressage, but still did some super work to score a competitive 27.5.
He then jumped a great clear in the show jumping and felt on great form.
Watch our round here:
He was very keen to get going round the cross country and whizzed round, he really enjoyed himself and was very pleased to be out again, as he was rather keen I had the handbrake on a little. We picked up 7.2 time faults to finish in 5th place.
Watch our round here:
After being a little cheeky the week before at Gatcombe Vendredi Biats was having an extra run at Burnham to get back into the swing of the season. He did a lovely test again and scored a very competitive score of 28.
He then jumped a super clear round the show jumping.
Watch our round here:
Watch our round here:
Billy Bounce was a little more excited in his test than at Gatcombe, we made some silly little mistakes through lack of concentration, but over all his work was very good. He scored a 33.5.
He then jumped a super clear in the show jumping, it was so nice to finally get I'm out on the grass and jumping in a competition at last!
He jumped a lovely but steady clear round the cross country and felt very pleased and happy to be finally going cross country again.
Sunday, 10 April 2016
Gatcombe (1)
I had Mo Cuiske in the Open Intermediate, Vendredi Biats in the Intermediate, Virage Des Falaises in the Novice and Billy Bounce in the Intermediate Novice.
Mo Cuiske was a little fresh having his first run of the year, he did an accurate test to score 35.
He jumped a super clear in the show jumping:
Watch our round here:
He then skipped round the cross country finding it all easy. We picked up a few time faults to finish in 8th place.
Vendredi Biats did a super test making just one small mistake. He coped with the new intermediate test which included half passes and pirouettes. He a scored a very competitive 27.1.
Watch our test here:
He then jumped a great round in the show jumping and was very unlucky to have one down when he got a little stuck in the tacky ground.
Watch out round here:
He jumped well round the cross county but was very cheeky at a double of corners early on and had a naughty glance off. He was just lacking a bit of match pratice and concentration. He finished the course really well.
Virage Des Falaises was doing his first event in the UK. He did a superb test to score 23.5 and led the section.
Watch our test here:
He found the tacky ground a little have to jump out of but still jumped a lovely clear.
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He then jumped a super clear round the cross country and won his section really comfortably.
Watch our round here:
Billy Bounce did a really good test in pretty muddy ground and led his section on a 25.2.
Watch our test here:
Unfortunately after warming up for the show jumping the heavens opened whilst they were changing the course and the event made the frustrating but right decision to abandoned this final section of the day. It was a real shame but the ground had deteriorated a lot so this early in the year it was definitely best to save the horses for another day.
Lincoln
I just had Ceylor LAN up at Lincoln, he was doing the Advanced intermediate. He was a little jolly to be out at an event again, but still did a very solid test. He scored 28.4 which put us in second after the dressage.
Watch out test here:
He then jumped a super clear round the show jumping and felt on great form.
Watch his round here:
He flew round the cross country and gave me a great ride. He didn't feel at all rusty and picked up just two time faults to win the section comfortably.
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