Double regional Champion!

                                                                         Photo by Risto Aaltonen

Last weekend I competed Margaret Phizacklea's gorgeous horse Coole Contender at the Addington Regionals. We won the Medium Open and Medium Open Freestyle titles, then also a 4th place in the Advanced medium freestyle with all three tests over 70%. What a great weekend!
 Marg had asked me a while ago if I would ride Charlie at the regionals for her and I was more than happy. She has done a fantastic job of training him from a young horse and he gave me three great rides. He is a super horse, polite and sensitive, so keen to please as well as being gorgeous looking.
His mistake free Medium Open test was the only score of 70% and the exciting thing is I know there's more to come! He was a little tired in the Advanced Medium freestyle but came back well the next day with super test in the |Medium Freestyle and a score 74%.
He's gone home to Marg now while I'm in Vidauban then the lovely Charlie will be back to prepare for the Winter Finals at Hartpury in April... can't wait!!

An early win for Walkman

This season started early for Bugsy with a win in the Grand Prix at Addington on 66%. He was feeling really fit and much stronger than last year. We still had some mistakes, mostly due to over enthusiasm  so there definitely a much higher score yet to come.

Photo by Kevin Sparrow

The judge David Trott made this comment in Horse and Hound " It was a really well presented test. Walkman looks established in everything, he was lovely and secure in his head carriage and very uphill"

This show was to be warm up for the High Profile show this weekend which unfortunately had to be cancelled due to the snow.
We are hoping to go abroad in the next few months to compete internationally so will try to get out again soon.

A new supporter

We recently had a new saddle fitted by Becky Whitcombe of Sue Carson saddles, the new Grand Prix Special. It's made such a huge difference to Bugsy's confidence in the changes, especially in the one tempis which before the new saddle could be tight and tense.
He feels so much freer in the shoulder and softer in his back. The rider position is excellent as the knee blocks are positioned especially for the individual rider. As he is still constantly developing more muscle we are able to adjust and balance the saddle accordingly with the Flair system.

Many thanks to Sue and Becky.

London 2012

I feel so lucky that I had the chance to witness firsthand the success of our amazing dressage team in the London 2012 Olympics. Thanks to Lindsey's prompt action we were very fortunate to get tickets for 3 of the 4 days on the first ballot, then due to one of my clients being unwell we were also able to see day 2 of the Grand Prix.
The atmosphere and venue at Greenwich couldn't have been better, it was a nerve wracking time watching the GB tests but after such a fantastic build up to the Olympics I felt quite confident they could do it. It was a proud moment to see our riders producing such brilliant tests and being given their well earned gold medals.
The Kur was another amazing day, I thought Laura so deserved a medal on Alf, her music was lovely and he looked like he had his power back. It was such a shame for Carl to miss out in the individual medals, he rode so brilliantly and got the most he could from a tired Uti. I didn't doubt for a moment that Charlotte and Valegro could win the gold having seen their Kur at Hartpury when they had the whole audience in tears! It was such perfect 'London 2012' music, the way of going was beautiful and the harmony incredible . I think we've seen some of the best dressage for a while and I wouldn't have missed it for the world.

I also spent a day at the athletics in the fantastic Olympic stadium. It was a great chance to see the Olympic park and soak up the incredible atmosphere there. The stadium actually seemed smaller than on the TV but still very impressive and the roar of the crowd when Mo Farah ran past us was awesome! We also saw pole vaulting, hammer throwing and decathlon. So many people were there to support Team GB, I think we can be really proud of this Olympics, its been an unforgettable few weeks and I'm glad to say I was there!

Going for Grand Prix!

We are hoping that Walkman (Bugsy) will get to do his first Grand Prix next month. Having failed to get to two competitions lets hope its third time lucky! First of all we were balloted (of sorts!) out of the Addington High Proflie show, then the next one was cancelled due to the snow which proved fortunate as I was laid up in bed with flu!

So next on the calender is Myerscough Premier League in Preston, Lancs on 10-11th March. Bugsy has had a good winter training and now feels ready to take the step up to Grand Prix. It's still early days but the qualifying is difficult this year so we need to get started to gain mileage and experience.

He finished last season with very nearly a great test in the Inter II at the Nationals, up until the canter work even Carl our trainer who was the eventual winner thought we could be in the lead. Unfortunately after missing one of the two tempis right at the start of the diagonal he lost his confidence and his legs went everywhere, then all in a pickle the one tempis didn't happen so that was that. Not disappointed we came home really pleased, he had shown great talent in the piaffe / passage and given me feeling of a really good future Grand Prix horse .

Photo by Equine Life Photography

New arrivals

We now have two new horses on the yard, in March Lindsey bought a 6 year old mare called Aurora. She is by Special D(Metall)/ Krack C. She is a very beautiful elegant type, athletic and intelligent. She hasn't done very much previously so we have been building up her strength and she is learning really quickly. She's been nicknamed 'Princess'and can sometimes be one, we are slowly adjusting to having mares on the yard! She is also ridden twice a week by Mark Forrest who was based at our yard for a while, he will be competing her until she is ready to go medium level with me.

Aurora

Whilst I was on holiday she has spent some time at Mark's yard in Herefordshire aswell as dressage she has been hacking and loose jumping. She has also started some in hand piaffe and is showing lots of talent, this weekend she is competing and then is coming back to the yard next week.We hope to qualify her for novice this winter.

Last week Zorento arrrived, he is a 7 yr old by Don Ruto(Don Gregory)/Negro. Zoro has been lightly competed at novice and elementry. He is a very sweet temperament, just still a little nervous at the moment. He has super paces and we are really excited about training him. We heard about him 18mths ago when Carl suggested him to us, after he had ridden him once and loved him, but at that time we werent looking to buy. Funny how these things work out and now here he is..

Zorento

Its early days at the moment, we are just getting to know him then I hope we can move him up to medium and get out there competing later this year.

Nationals disappointment and winter training begins..

At this years National Championships poor Bugsy was very unwell needing to be withdrawn from the PSG and Inter I . He had started to look lethargic and off his food the day after we arrived then by the evening he had a high temperature resulting in a midnight visit from the vet. There was no question of him being fit to compete so it was just a case of getting him well enough to travel home.
We were so disappointed as Bugsy had had a such successful season including a 75% PSG score at Patchetts, 3 top 10 placings at Hartbury CDI, and 10th in the Hickstead CDI PSG, it should have been a great show for him.
To save the day Lucky did his best Nationals test so far with 65% in the Inter I, unfortunately he decided to do a poo in the 3 tempis which is so unusual for him... horses eh!! but an otherwise clean test, with only 1% between 5th and 25th he was so nearly in the top 10.
After an extra long holiday to give him chance to recover Bugsy now has a busy winter training ahead, he will be working more on his piaffe/passage to gain strength and we need a few more one tempis ready for his first Inter II and Grand Prix later next year.
When Charlie is back from his rest he is to be sold. He's going to make a great schoolmaster for somebody, he's a good teacher as he has to be ridden correctly but has endless patience and tolerance to teach the rider the movements.
Lindsey will be getting back to some more riding with Lucky and Big is coming on well since having last summer off with an injury, he's come back much stronger and his changes are improving well.

Big training at home

Photo by JT Photography

Premier League wins for both

As the Premier League season moves into full swing, the Spanish sunshine seems a distant memory. However, the boys enjoyed a few weeks rest on return to the UK before showing us what they learnt on the Sunshine Tour.

Bugsy started out on great form at The College scoring an impressive 70.3%. Unfortunately we were beaten by just 2 marks into second place in the PSG.

Last week we drove up to Lincolnshire for Sheepgate Premier League. We decided as a late entry to take Lucky. Although he'd been feeling a little 'cranky' after his rest, a visit from Sherry our physio got him back on fine form with a win in the Inter I. This qualifies him for the Nationals this year and means he can put his feet up for a while!

Photo by Kevin Sparrow

Bugsy was feeling great, being placed 3rd just behind Lucky on day one, then he came out on the second day even better, scoring 69% and winning the PSG - securing his place at the Nationals.

It's great to have both horses qualified so early in the season. Now Bugs needs to focus on qualifying at Inter I and working his grand prix training at home -got 9 one tempis today! He'll be competing at Addington Premier League this weekend in both Inter I classes.