Blog

I have been extremely rubbish recently with keeping up to date on here! No excuses – but I have been incredibly busy since starting a new job in October.

I have taken on the role as Veterinary Nurse Manager at a busy Small Animal Referral Hospital I work at in Worthing. I now feel that I am starting to get my head around the new role…Good job too as the eventing season starts this week; although I am currently wrapped up in a blanket surrounded by snow!

The boys have had a steady winter of work with some great successes as well as the usual trials and tribulations that we face!

FINLEY:

After the end of the Eventing season Finley had some down time before we started his winter training.

He has attending many a Combined Training at Felbridge Equestrian Centre. He started his winter campaign with a bang and a 4th and 1st place each time he went out. On his last visit to Felbridge he performed a wonderful dressage test; and was soaring round the show jumping until he had a very out of character glance off at the last fence. He however jumped round again absolutely fine – Such is life!

We have also been improving our dressage throughout the winter months working hard on keeping him supple and engaged. Our efforts paid off when we competed at Belmoredean in the Novice and Elementary classes – we had a very successful day coming 2nd in the Novice (67%) and a win in the Ele (67.8%) He is still yet to be established at this level but he shows so much promise.

I decided to try something new this winter and took Finley to compete in the jumping and style (JAS) at Wellington Equestrian Centre. He has never jumped indoors before and behaved incredibly well despite this; and the fact that we were competing very late at night. See video below of the rather tricky, twisty course.

As well as competing we have been busy training with Caroline Jeanne, continuing to improve in our jumping. The sessions have involved arena cross-country technique, gymnastic jumping; and more recently two fab days cross country schooling at Tweseldown in prep for our competition this coming weekend…Fingers crossed!!

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RANSOM

Ransom has been busy getting his qualifying scores in order to compete at the Area Festivals this year. Sadly the weather has not been on our side that much with many training sessions and competitions being cancelled due to the icy/snowy conditions.

However; in his last outing he managed a PB in the Advanced test which has made me realise how much more he has to give. We have obtained half the qualifying scores needed at both Advanced Medium and PSG; and fingers crossed when we get out again for some training we will be working towards our first Intermediare II

Video of Ransom in his Advanced test scoring a PB

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NELSON

Nelson has had a very exciting winter competing in Arena Eventing. He rather surprisingly qualified for the Championships which were held at Brendon Stud. At the age of 27 he still showed me how well he can turn on the spot when needed to come overall third!!

His season will involve some more veteran showing as well as a small horse trials in April. He really isn’t showing his age at all and long may it continue!

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I have been lucky enough to be selected by Petplan Equine to carry on being their brand Ambassador for the second year running. I feel incredibly grateful for this opportunity and with that in mind I am determined to fulfil my goals for the 2018 season!

Finley: – To compete and complete a British Eventing 1* competition

Ransom:- To compete and obtain over 60% in a British Dressage Intermediare II test

Nelson:- To qualify for the Veteran Championship class at the Sunshine Tour, Hickstead

I BEST GET CRACKING!!

May started with our annual mother/daughter trip to Badminton Horse Trials. We had a great time, and I was lucky enough to be spoilt with two new jackets… Including a tailcoat! Really pleased I hadn’t hurried into buying one as this one was perfect and worth the wait in finding. I am so excited to take it for its first outing.

With some inspiration from Badminton we attended a cross country clinic at Tweseldown with Caroline Jeanne. As always; Finley was on form jumping some rather huge and technical combinations including some intermediate fences. I still need to trust him more but as long as I kick on I know he will always deliver.

Our next event happened to be at Tweseldown in the Novice, and this was definately not our day. Our dressage and showjumping had improved – but with more work could be even better. We were flying round the huge cross country track until the last fence. It was a huge upright box brush and sadly Finley hit it with his knees meaning I was sent into orbit.

This left me with some pretty severe bruising, strains, sprains and a twisted pelvis. However I lived to fight another day; but decided to drop back down to the 100 at Borde Hill in order to give us a confident run.

Since my injury I have been recieving some intense Chiropractic treatment for the most recent fall; but also for my ongoing back and neck issues. There is a lot of work to be done but I am already seeing the rewards and feel much straighter.

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Borde Hill was a week post inury and I was still not up to scratch with my riding; so I was just after calm confident run. He produced a lovely dressage test, and fantastic showjumping round with just the last fence down; and then stormed round the cross country in the time for SEVENTH PLACE. I was over the moon with this after the previous week, and knew that we couldn’t have done any better.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Video of Finley at Borde Hill on route to 7th place

This put us in the best frame of mind for our next Novice run at BCA, as well as a intense showjumping session with Caroline Jeanne which had us jumping 1.30m. A new PB for me!!

I had been debating whether or not to run in the Novice at BCA; but I put on my brave pants as we headed to a new venue for both me and Finley. He was yet again on form. His dressage is constantly improving but on this occasion the judge didn’t agree with me – but thats just opinion!

Our showjumping round was fantastic. Finley jumped a beautiful clear which I was thrilled with; followed by a steady clear cross country round picking up just a few time penalties… but I didnt care! We had achieved our first double clear at Novice level picking up our first points. To add the icing on top of what was already a huge cake we ended up coming tenth! Yet another rosette bagged for the fantastic Finley.

 

He then had some down time before his next event at the beginning of July.

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Not to be out done Ransom and I finally got to compete in our first PSG at Brendon Pyecombe Equestrian on the 20th May.

This horse continues to completely amaze me, and this occasion was no different. He blew me away and reduced me to tears of joy during our test and he gave 110%. There were a few errors to our test but we managed to get through performing every movement. Not only did we win our first PSG by 9%…we ended up winning the whole FEI class!

 

Video clip of Ransom in his first PSG

He was out again one week later. This time after my Tweseldown fall which meant our preparation was sub optimal.

We were competing at Step Aside Dressage in the Advanced Medium, and PSG. Despite my weakness we ended up winning the AM, and improving on our previous PSG score coming second.

This meant we had obtained our Petplan Area Festival Qualification, and would be heading to Crofton Manor for PSG.

Before then; we had our Area Festival at Pachesham Equestrian in the Advanced Medium class. The judging was quite tough; but Ransom behaved and ended up coming joint 1st (second on one collective) to obtain our qualification for the final in September.

We have lots to work on but he is going so well.

June was also the month for birthdays. Finley turned nine at the beginning of June, and Ransom twenty at the end of the month. I have had so much fun and joy seeing these boys grow over the years; and hope we can continue to make many more memories.

 

We continued with our intense prep for our first Novice at South of England; and this started with a cross country session at Comphurst, East Sussex.

This is a great venue with lots of tricky combinations and an excellent water jump. Finley jumped his socks off and I felt very positive after this session – Will definitely be going back for further training.

Later that week we had our last showjumping session on grass which went very well; so there was no more I could do before our debut….

The weather was beautiful and the ground was well prepared as we entered the showground. I was trying hard to contain my nerves, as I didn’t want this to affect our performance that we have been working so hard for.

I couldn’t have asked for a better day! Finley was absolutely amazing. He performed a really calm obedient test for 32 which is a huge improvement. Had two poles showjumping, which I was thrilled with considering this is our weakest phase. Then it was on to the cross country. As we left the start I knew I had absolute faith in Finley and he soared round the big track with a few time faults. I was over the moon with him, and was a great start to his step up to Novice.

Video courtesy of An Eventful Life of our fab round at South of England

 

Two weeks later we were competing at Hambledon in our second Novice. I love this event and used to attend it every year with Ransom and loved galloping through the bluebells so was thrilled to be back competing. Finley and I competed in our first 100cm here in 2016 so I was hoping it would be just as successful.

With so many steps forward taken at South of England there were bound to be some steps backward, and sadly that’s what happened in the showjumping. The round was very tense and slightly ‘unruly’ which led to four fences down. This made me even more determined to fly round the cross country.

The course was proving to be extremely tough with many people retiring, getting eliminated and having many time faults. So I was prepared for a tough ride. Finley yet again acted like a superstar taking everything in his stride and when he was a little cautious I was there to support him and he flew! I was all set to be inside the time with a fab clear up until the third from home. He clocked a dog in the distance which led to a lapse in concentration and us bypassing the fence. I then needed to turn a circle and cross my tracks and an annoying 20 penalties. We cruised home with only a few time faults and I was thrilled because he had gone clear but frustrated with the penalties awarded.

So with the showjumping demons setting in; and the unfortunate cancellation of Ransom’s PSG debut I decided to be brave and head to the world of Showjumping at Coombelands Equestrian centre.

My aim wasn’t to be competitive; it was to concentrate on rhythm and balance. We entered the Discovery and Newcomers and I was pleased with how he behaved. We even managed to get into the jump off. A lot of homework to be done but every outing is an experience for us both.

During the Easter holidays I spent the week teaching for my old pony club ‘Petersfield’ at their mini and novice/intermediate clinics. I had a fab time teaching them; and forgot how gutsy children can be. Was great to see their improvement in just a few days.

April is a very important month for one of the team at LG Eventing and Dressage. It was Nelsons’s 26th birthday!! I cant believe how long I have had this boy for; and how many memories we have made over the last 22 years. He is looking so fit and well at the moment so I am going to investigate into veteran showing with him.

Sadly Finley’s last event of the month proved to be our worst to date with the showjumping being a disaster. We took a step back down into the 100+ for an easier run, but he found the arena extremely spooky; and for the first time in a long time he was incredibly nappy leading to time faults and multiple fences down.

This was so disappointing considering our dressage was good for our arena, but I headed down to the cross country with determination and Mr Consistent had another superb round coming home well within the time.

I now have a lot of homework and changes to make in order to improve our showjumping. Practice practice and more practice!!!

March had finally arrived and I was incredibly excited for the countdown to my first British Event of the season.

I was supposed to have showjumping practice on grass prior to Tweseldown but the great British weather had other ideas. A week of rain meant the combined training at Munstead was cancelled.

Tweseldown was one week later, and we had prepped to the best of our ability, with Finley looking smart and excited to be going to a party.

But things don’t always go to plan however much training and preparation you put in!
Finley started his dressage test beautifully and I was happy with how he was feeling until I suddenly heard loud screams of “LOOSE HORSE” dogs barking and the said loose equine passing my arena!! This did not go down well with Finley and led to him getting very upset, tense, and leaving the arena.
Finley gets easily stressed, and upset by situations and their can be no consoling him at times. Progress was made; and we managed to finish the test but the damage had sadly been done but through no fault of his own.
His showjumping was quite strong but we were unlucky to have pole; and this was followed by yet another fantastic clear in the time cross country. Just love my cross country machine! I was pleased with his performance and this was a great start before our first Novice at the beginning of April.

In our four weeks between events we put in a lot of training both jumping and on the flat. I had also been debating about changing Finley’s noseband as I felt that the flash was not helping him at all. After much research I changed him to a Grackle; and after training session with Robbie Carpenter I felt he was going so much better.

I needed to face our dressage demons and put our new gear into practice before our next event so we attended the BD at Pyecome to compete in the unaffiliated sections of the Novice and Elementary. This was Finleys first go in a long arena and he behaved impeccably!

He was so much more relaxed and even managed a 4^th in the Ele with a 67%.

Ransom was also attending dressage parties and returned to Belmoredean for another crack at Advanced medium, and Advanced.
He behaviour was much improved from our last outing and he warmed up beautifully…. Changes and everything! But annoyingly my Advanced was before my AM as I was hoping to use the latter as the warm up test but he was behaving so well I didn’t mind…UNTIL HE ENTERS THE ARENA!
So much has improved since our last attempt and his single flying changed were great but the 3s and 4s were debatable despite the perfection in the warm up! He also added in a buck and a kick of the boards for
Good measures but we still got a lot of high marks; so next time I will bite the bullet and enter our FIRST PSG!
The AM went really well with spot on changes and lovely lateral work. I felt it was his best at the level for a while and we came 2nd with 67.8%
So April will now have two firsts…. Finley and I first Novice, and Ransom and I first PSG. WATCH THIS SPACE!