Another busy week, not a day at home.
We probably don't need a house, only a washing machine, for the
amount of time we spend there.
Monday we competed at Highclare Horse Trials, a lovely event in
Berkshire.
The organizers have made the weekend a big show with lots of
different equestrian classes, and plenty of trade stands. They also
advertised the event very well.
This attracts lots of spectators, which is great for the sponsors.
Hopefully more events will follow along these lines.
Mark rode Murphy and Smudge in the Intermediate sections and Sox
in the young event class, and sale case.
Murphy went superbly, winning his section on his very good dressage
of 26.
That is his 3rd intermediate win this year, making him now advanced.
Smudge led the dressage on a super score of 23, then went on to
complete with a very good double clear,
Mark took him slowly XC, as he had a fast run last time out.
So no rosettes, but a very pleasing result.
Sox went very well in the young event class, although he didn't get
a place.
He is a little bit of an ugly duckling at the moment, and not quite
what the judges are looking for.
The sale case class was a bit of a disaster.
Designed to allow vendors to parade then show of any sale horses.
Perspective buyers then could approach the vendors privately.
Unfortunately by the time the section started, it was getting late
and most of the public had left.
Still the class is a good idea, if it can be organised and
advertised enough to attract buyers and sellers.
Tanya rode Star in the AI.
He did a good dressage then double clear with 3 time faults leaving
him 5th.
Tuesday we took Dawn to Norton Heath showjumping.
She has qualified for some classes at the Festival of Showjumping,
which is in two weeks so she needed to get back into practise!
She jumped well, although a little rusty.
Mark's mother, Gillian, arrived in the evening, from Ireland. for a
busmans holiday. We always keep her very busy.
Wednesday morning we set of for Burghley.
This is our closest event, so it was nice to set out at a reasonable
time.
Wednesday is the first trot up, and competitors briefing.
Although we all arrive with what we think are sound horses, the trot
up is always a fairly tense time.
With usually someone failing.
Carl was actually 'held' this is when the Ground Jury asks the vet
to check the horses before they pass them fit to compete.
Carl has an A Symmetric Sacroiliac joint as the result of an injury
when he was a foal.
This makes his trot 'roll' a little behind.
Although confidant that he was sound, still a few anxious moments,
before he passed on his second trot up.
Carl's dressage was Thursday morning.
He did the best test he can do at this stage, staying very calm and
obedient to score 64.
Which put him into 38th place at the end of the two days of
dressage.
With the dressage was over it was time to walk the course.
The course this year at Burghley was much kinder to the horses than
it has been for the last two years.
Whilst still being big and quite scary, it was not trying to catch
the horses out.
We thought after walking that the course would suit Carl who is a
super XC horse.
Friday Carl had a little jump, but a fairly relaxing day to get
ready for Saturday.
Time for us to walk the course, and find out the minute markers.
At a 3 day it is usual to measure (wheel) the track both the
steeplechase and the XC, to work out where we should be at each
minute.
What usually happens at events a few people wheel the course then
give the minute markers to everyone else.
We wonder if there is any other sport with so much, camaraderie
between competitors.
You always think a 3 day events that there is plenty of time,
after all it is only one dressage test, one XC and one Jumping, with
a couple of trot ups thrown in.
But by the time you walk the course several times, walk the chase,
ride the horses, and chat to owners and friends, the time just
disappears.
So Tanya thought she may get some shopping done but she only managed
a quick run round.
Luckily for the wallet!
Saturday, morning.
Everyone always asks 'did you sleep ok?' well, we both have no
problem sleeping, but we can't say that we sleep in!
Tanya admitted to feeling quite sick, with the butterflies in her
stomach.
So went off to take last minutes look at a few of the fences, and
the chase course.
Not that it makes you less nervous just makes you feel you are doing
all you can.
The nerves are not that the you can't do the course, but that you
will do something very silly, and let the horse, owners, supporters
etc down.
Carl did the first roads and tracks and felt very relaxed;
once he was in the start box he woke up!
Completing the 4.30-minute track very easily.
At the start watched by all the supporters
He was a little more excited on phase C tracks but came into the
10-minute box with a very good hart rate.
When
Carl was in the start box the hevans opened, torrential rain!!
Carl did a super XC,
unfortunately the rain, along with the fact that he lost a front
shoe, made the going very slippery.
This stopped Tanya going as quickly as she would have liked. But he
still did a very good clear with 3o time penalties. Leaving him in
25th position after the XC.
Once Carl had been washed, walked, grazed, shoe replaced, foot
poulticed, then time to relax.
We sat in the competitor's tent and watch the screens relaying
pictures of the remaining riders on the XC.
Maryan Huntridge bought a super picnic, so at the end of the day it
was lovely to sit and chat, with everyone.
Sunday, always an early start, to get the horses out and see how
they are after Saturday's exertions.
Although you have an idea by Saturday evening, the night standing in
can stiffen them up.
Carl was sore on an overreach, which he must have done when he
pulled the shoe.
So plenty of icing to help pull the bruise out, and time to plait up
for the trot up.
If you think the first trot up is at all nerve racking, that is
nothing on the second one!
Carl passed trotting very well, obviously none the worse.
A smile of relief after the trot up
Being in the top 25 that meant Carl was to jump in the afternoon
after the parade.
Time to do the trade stands!!
Well Tanya did the stands, Mark read the Sunday papers!
Carl jumped very well just having one fence down, but going easily
inside the tight optimum time.
This left him in 23rd place at the end of the competition.
Not too bad for his first 4* competition.
Hopefully all will go well over the winter, and Badminton will be
his next 3-day.
Then time to pack up the lorry, go and buy all the photos!
And thankfully only a short trip home.
For full results on Burghley go to burghley.co.uk
As usual the high of finishing well at Burghley did not last long.
Star on his final piece of work before leaving for Blenheim did
not feel 100%
A trip to the vets soon revealed that he was throwing a splint. What
timing!
So very disappointingly we rang Blenheim to withdraw.
As we said. A bit of a come down, after last week, but that's horses.
Not much time to mope, word that we were not away for the week soon got round, and we soon had plenty of lessons booked in.
The week at home gave us a chance to work on the youngsters.
They are all going well, and seem to really be growing up. (Till the
next event!!)
It is very rewarding bringing on horses from scratch, whether it is for us to event or for them to be sold. Then we like to follow them with there new riders.
The other job we always have to do is the never-ending paperwork.
When we are away it is a perfect excuse to allow it to pile up.
Cubing, sorry, Autumn Hunting to be correct started this week.
Although we napped at the idea of starting at 6am,(we have to get up
early enough for eventing.)
Zoe, Emily and Toni all went twice this week, thoroughly enjoying
themselves.
| Tanya's nieces Alex & Daisy who are 4 & 6, not
wanting to be left out have persuaded Toni, to take them on
Monday morning. They have not been pushed into the ponies, so a search for proper kit entailed. The result is full hunting attire, which they were very pleased to show off. |
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We will have to wait and see if they are as keen on Monday morning at 5am!
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Sunday we took 8 horses to Lordsbridge, show jumping. |
Tanya rode Ghillie, Muffin, and Kiwi all of which jumped very well picking up a couple of rosettes. SEE RESULTS.
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Muffin & Ghillie jumping into the rosettes. |
Mark rode Sox, Marvel, Dawn and Swazie a new horse, see
FOR SALE.
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Swazie only arrived on Thursday from Ireland. He has done some jumping over there, but we don't have his full record yet. We were very pleased with his jumping. He jumped in the 110m. and the Foxhunter only having a pole down in each. |
| Dawn seems to be back on winning form winning 2 classes. So a good warm up for next week, at the Festival of the Jumping. |
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Marvel forgot his 4 faultitus at planks to jump a good double clear in the 1m. class.
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Zoe and Ria were unlucky not to win the the Discovery with an unlucky 4 faults in the fastest time. |
All in all a good day,especially as we were home by 3pm, which left an hour to sit in the sun.
The plan for next week is, Festival of the Jumping during the
week then Somerlayton with the novices on Saturday.
If all goes to plan!
Another busy week. So what's new?
Monday and Tuesday, Kelly Day came to try Amy.
Kelly is the Your Horse magazine winner of Win A Horse.
Having won the competition she know along with the magazine needs
to find a suitable horse.
So along with a photographer, she spent 2 days thoroughly trying
Amy.see
FOR SALE.
| Kelly and Amy got on well together. The most important
thing in buying a new horse. So the next step is for the vetting.
|
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Tuesday lunchtime we set of for Arena UK. This years venue for
the, Festival Of Jumping.
We had a full tank of diesel, so the fuel shortage didn't affect
us.
It was nice having very empty roads!
This is the first year Arena UK have hosted the event.
With 3 outdoor arenas, the indoor arena, and a large marquee for
the evenings entertainment of bands.
The event had a very good atmosphere. With, plenty for spectators
to see.
Dawn was qualified to jump in the 6year old class on Tuesday
& Wednesday.
Horses placed in the top 15 of each class then went on to the
final on Thursday.
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Dawn jumped very well on the Tuesday finishing 4th qualifying for the final. |
The final, took part in the indoor arena. This was transformed with yards of material, to make it have a much grander feel.
| The effect caused many of the horses to jump a little
'green.' Dawn jumped well, coping very well with the arena, but had a fence down. |
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Friday we worked all the novices, ready to go to Somerlayton Horse Trials on Saturday.
Saturday we had a horribly early start to get to Somerlayton in
time for 8.30am dressage!
It really was the most horrible weather at Somerlayton,
drizzly rain all day, only to be interrupted with very heavy
downpours!
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All of our horses did very good dressage tests; we got a
22, 23, 24, 25, & 26!! Marvel doing a super test |
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And all went very well XC with 5 clears. |
The show jumping was the bogey phase.
Always a tricky phase, in Somerlayton's undulating arena.
Mark on Marvel had an unfortunate round with 3 down, as did Tanya
and Kiwi.
| Ghillie and Muffin with Tanya had 1 down each, as did
Zoe and Ria. Ria jumping in the picturesque arena situated infrount of Somerlayton House |
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Muffin managed to win another point with the others
getting lower places. SEE
RESULTS. Sarah bought Muffins new headcoller with nameplate, promised to him after his place at Aston. Which was very lucky as he managed to break a headcoller on the lorry! |
Home for a nice hot shower, via McDonalds. (Of course)
Sunday, Tanya woke with a heavy cold so, Mark very kindly
offered to stay in and look after her.
Not that this would have anything to do with watching the Olympics
on TV!!
So a very lazy day for a change,
but we didn't complain!
Quite a relaxed week, only 2 days out. Which is quite lucky. Tanya had a bad cold, and 4 nights of interrupted sleep watching the Olympic eventing left us both quite shattered.
Tuesday we went to Norton Heath show jumping with all the novice
horses.
Luckily they moved the jumping indoors, as it poured with rain all
day.
They all went well, coping with the tight indoor school very well,
although,
Ria was the only one to win a rosette coming 2nd in the Discovery.
Amy was vetted on Thursday, despite misbehaving in front of the vet (she was a little fresh) she passed easily, so the next step is to arrange the transport to Devon.
Saturday we were at Burnham Market horse trials.
Burnham managed to run intermediate and novice sections on the same
day.
Giving us the chance to run everything on the same day.
Which meant a full lorry leaving very early, in order to fit it all
in.
We were very lucky with the weather, a beautiful sunny day. Mark had 3 rides, Smudge, and Murphy in the Open Intermediate. Marvel in the novice.
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Smudge did a good dressage, but then went on to have a terrible showjuming round knocking 4 down! XC he went OK, being one of many caught out by a narrow gate, coming out of an opening. |
| Murphy went well, an average dressage then on to jump a super double clear. Finishing 8th. |  |
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Marvel did another super dressage. He really is very
established on the flat now. Show jumping he was jumping very well, untill he saw ghosts in the double, ducking out. XC was also disappointing, collecting 20 penalties for a run out. At a very straightforward fence. This is very unlike Marvel, so he will be in for an MOT this week, checking out his back, teeth etc. |
Tanya had two rides with Muffin, and Kiwi in the novice. Both did
good dressage tests.
Muffin jumped a super clear show jumping then on to a lovely XC.
Taking everything in his stride he made the course feel very easy.
Finishing a very well deserved 8th.
 Muffin in the Dressage |
 Muffin XC |
Kiwi jumped well but still managed to knock 2 down.
XC he marred his clean sheet by collecting 20penalties going the
long way at a bounce. Not really a run out, more of a
misunderstanding!
He is going so well, it is difficult to remember that he was racing
in May.
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| Kiwi into the water |
To finish the day, Tanya pulled a coat off the Luton of the lorry on the way home, to find a bridle hook wrapped up in it, which hit her in the face leaving a nice black eye!
Ria and Zoe had a good day with a good dressage, the last fence down jumping and a super fast XC to finish just outside the rosettes.
Sunday, we planned to have a day off; as usual it didn't go
quite to plan.
Tanya had a 13hh Welsh stallion in to school, before he goes to
Wembley next week.
Then a lesson to teach, before we rushed over to Newmarket to look
at a horse.
An impromptu late lunch, with plenty of wine! at Maria's, (a friend in Newmarket,) led to a relaxing afternoon.
Hurrah, the end of our event season. Well nearly. Only Le Lion D'Angers 3 day. Left and three days don't count.
We know to everyone who doesn't event 'professionally' that must
be a terrible thing to say, but by the end of a very long season
where you are really continually away. It is nice to finish.
In 2-3 weeks we will bored and looking forward to the next season!!
This week Amy was collected.
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Sam one of our grooms who was very attached to her had a
last ride. We have heard from her new home and she has settled in and seams to be enjoying the Devon air. |
Remember you can follow her progress in YOUR HORSE magazine.
Ghillie who was tried by Kirsty Thompson last week passed the vet
on Monday, so he will be off to Gloucestershire soon.
Whilst it will be sad to see him go. He has given us a lot of
pleasure this year.
We are sure Kirsty will have a lot of fun with him.
Wednesday we took Mac and Lilly to Carol's to school.
This was Macs first outing.
| He behaved beautifully, having no problem with the course. He will now go back to Lucinda's (his owner) for a holiday. |  |
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Emily rode Lilly for their first practise together over a
course of jumps. Apart from an unfortunate 'dismount' they went very well. |
| Mark took Swazie,SEE
FOR SALE he jumped very well, there should be no problem
selling him. Although Mark would like to keep him for a while to compete! |  |
Friday and Saturday we had an excellent excuse not to school the
horses.
We had arranged for a JCB to level the service in the indoor school.
Unfortunately he broke down whilst in the school!
Leaving us no option than to hack the horses.
We hardly ever hack, spending most of our time schooling.
With the weather warm and lots of fields round us stubble it was
quite enjoyable.
The horses obviously enjoyed it.
All of the horses we took to Erridge on Sunday did super dressage
tests! So much for schooling!
After a slightly delayed start. The lorry air system played up. (Just what you need at 5.30am)
Of to our last one day of 2000
| Muffin, who did a 20 dressage, went on to do a clear show
jumping and was in the lead going XC. He went very well, unfortunately getting a little stuck in the mud going up 2 steps which did not allow him to jump the log at the top. |
 Muffin in the Dressage |
 Muffin XC |
A really unfortunate mistake and not his fault at all. But he finished confidant. We have no doubt he will start next season, and it won't be long before he will be out of novice.
|
Kiwi did a good dressage, (he has learnt how to do medium trot
this week!)
Went on to jump, although he still had 2 down he is getting much
more confidant.
XC he went super, loving the hilly terrain or Erridge.
He must have trained on hills before he came to us, as we are as
flat as pancake!
He finished 10th collecting his first novice rosette.
 Kiwi in the Dressage |
 Kiwi Jumping |
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Marvel finally won the points he has been threatening to
win for weeks. After another good dressage he had one down show jumping, followed by a good quick XC to put him in the money by finishing 5th. |
| Ria and Zoe went very well. A good dressage followed by a lovely show jumping round, unluckily knocking one down. She finished the season with a good clear XC |  |
The novices all finished very well. With a lot to look forward to
next year.
The older horses were a little disappointing.
Mark had Smudge and Murphy in the Open Intermediate class.
Both did very good dressage, then to the show jumping.
Murphy had an uncharacteristic 2 down, Mark withdrew him from the XC
Smudge had 3 down, so Mark schooled round the XC not allowing him to
rush his fences.
 Murphy Jumping |
 Smudge dressage |
Of home then, of course via Mcdonalds.
We will miss the Bacon sandwiches; we always have at one-day events.
McDonalds we don't need to abstain from. (They are very well
positioned outlets near to our show jumping venues!)
