I had 2 quiet days at Gatcombe. On Saturday we went with New Ride, Dressed to Impress (Grace) who was competing in the ON, and Victor was doing day before dressage in the CIC*. Victor was first, he was super, we had 2 small errors in the test, but otherwise he showed some of his best work, he scored 46.6 and after 2 long days of dressage, he lay 8th out of 114 starters.
Grace too, really impressed at her first event. Her owner, Teresa, had warned me that she could be quite ‘fresh’ so I was expecting her to be quite cheeky, but she warmed in beautifully, and produced some really nice work in the arena, scoring 33.5 which we were all really pleased with.
She went on to jump well, she was quite excited when she started and rolled the first fence, but then settled down, and jumped a super round. The XC was great. She hadnt been XC for nearly 4 months, but jumped round like she had been yesterday, I didnt push her for the time, so we picked up 2.4, but I was very pleased with her and we finished just outside the top 10.
I was back again on Sunday. I had actually hurt my back on saturday, but Victors owner, Rachel, who is a physio taped up my back so I could get through the day. Victor was fantastic, jumping a super double clear picking up 4.8 time and finishing 4th in the CIC*. As my back was quite sore, I pretty much left him on his own, and he proved what an exciting prospect he is. He is now finished for 2011, but next year, I am hoping to establish him and intermediate level and move up to 2* level.
It was a very quiet day at Dauntsey, with just Andy there competing in the BE100. It was his first event for a while, as I had been away at Burghley and Blenheim, but he was fantastic, he produced a lovely test to score 31.5 and lie 5th after dressage. He then went on to jump a superb double clear.
The time had been wheeled very tight and we picked up 6.4 time faults, which was a shame as he has done 10 BE100 and never had time faults and without them we would have won, but I was still very pleased with finishing 4th, a great way to finish the season. Andy will now have a holiday and then do some dressage and show jumping over the winter in preparation for next season.
We took the long journey upto Little downham with Milo and Grace. They were both competing in the Intermediate. It was only Milo’s second intermediate and my first one with Grace. They both produced good tests for them. Milo was a little green and made a couple of mistakes, but scored 35.0, lying in the top 5 after dressage. Grace’s trot work was lovely, but she got a bit quick and tense in the canterwork, she scored 37.3 and her owner Teresa said it was a huge improvement so that was great.
The show jumping the full up for an intermediate track and a lot of people (including myself) confused it with the advanced course. But both Milo and Grace jumped super rounds, each just rolling one fence. Milo flew round the XC like a complete pro. He has moved up to intermediate so well. It’s a great feeling when you know a horse is so established at a level, that when you move them up, they find it easy. We picked up 5.2 time faults, which was a quick round, and we finished in 4th which was amazing.
Grace didnt go exactly to plan, she jumped the first half of the course really well, and then had problems at the water. We got passed it and jumped the next few, but then had a stop at a parellel with a ditch underneath it, so we were sadly eliminated.
I think she has just lost her confidence. Her last run with previous rider David Sheerin was at Little Downham and she had fallen at a trakaner. I think she just needs a bit more time to get her confidence back. I am going to take her XC schooling a couple of times and out jumping aswell, before her next event at Broadway which is round an ON. Fingers crossed we can have a good final run, and then spend the winter establishing our partnership to hopefully come out strong next year.
Most of the horses are on holiday. Ollie, Grace and Luca have stayed in work, and will have a few weeks off when the weather gets cold. Tomi has had 4 weeks off and has started hacking again, and in the next week or so will start schooling. Milo has a few more days of holiday before he starts again. They will then start doing some jumping competitions towards the end of November, and there are a few bigger shows that I want to do in December and January. The other horses will start walking again mid/end of November depending on when their last event was.
The stables have been completely cleaned out and re-painted and everything is looking really smart. We have also had some new post and rail and electric fencing. We have had post and rail around the arena and to secure both ends of the yard with several new wooden gates put in. We have also split our 2 large fields into smaller fields. Woody (who is our field hopper) isn’t hugely impressed that his private 6 acre field has been split in 3 smaller fields!
All in all its nice to be a bit quieter but I am looking forward to the next few months when we can get started on preparations for the 2012 event season!