The Great British Summer may be drawing to a close, but at MJEventing we are still as busy as ever. August brought more wins, new horses and even a spot in Horse & Hound!
At the beginning of August, dressage diva Dunny (Silken Creme) ventured out for her second British Dressage outing at Belmoredean. Once again she produced two solid tests at Prelim to score a huge 74.4% and 74.79%! This was good enough to win both classes and gain maximum points meaning that after two outings we had gained enough points to qualify for the Winter Regionals! Not a bad start to BD.
Click here to watch her video.
After our trip to Belmoredean, Dunny was well prepped for her first BE100 at Smith's Lawn horse trials. Carolyne, Dunny's owner, was a little nervous for her first one but I assured her that Dunny was more than capable and very talented. Dunny didn't let me down and scored an impressive dressage mark of 23.8 which was the best in the section! She warmed up beautifully for the show jumping and gave the jumps ample room so I was feeling confident going into the ring. Dunny jumped a super clear round and meant we were in the lead going into cross country. I was conscious to get the time right as I know it can be easy to go too fast at Smith's Lawn as it is very flat. Dunny flew around to finish on her dressage score which was good enough to win by 6 marks! Absolutely delighted to have won her first BE100 and I think Carolyne was very pleasantly surprised! It was lovely that Carolyne's husband, Phil, could be there to watch for the first time and that he could see Dunny win. It was the first time we used the new Wilberry Wonder Pony quarter marks which were obviously lucky.
Click here to watch Dunny's video.
Rio Olympics 2016. #TwoHearts. What a fine display of horsemanship we were treated to. Michael Jung, Charlotte Dujardin and Nick Skelton were worthy gold medal winners after showing true harmony with their horses. It was lovely to see new combinations also doing so well which is great for the sport. I only hope one day to be able to achieve what they have!
Feeling inspired after the Olympics, Firle Place international horse trials was very busy with the four mares competing over two days. Joss (Hay Josephine) and Dunny (Silken Creme) were in the BE90 and Myrtle (In Vogue II) and Skip (Skip To The Beat) were in the CIC*. We arrived early on Saturday morning with Joss and it was the most horrendous weather you could imagine- blowing an absolute hooley and heavy rain showers. So not ideal. Joss was her usual professional self and produced another smart test for 27... Quite amazing for the hunter who in her first season eventing has never scored above a 30! She then tried her hardest in the show jumping for a lovely clear - again, amazing for the hunter who has only had one rail down all season- and cross country she made seem like a walk in the park with a clear inside the time. It is not until you see the video that you realise how windy it was! Finishing on her dressage score left her unbeatable for the second time in a row!! She is a very special horse to us, and certainly puts the chestnut mare myth to bed!! She now goes back to her day job of hunting.
Joss's video's at Firle - Dressage / SJ - Cross Country
Hay Josephine | Firle Place International
By this time, Carolyne had arrived with Dunny who was raring to go. It is lovely to see a horse so enthusiastic about her job! After Smith's Lawn, I did not know how we would better such a good dressage score but Dunny proved it was possible and got best dressage of 22.3! I know it's easy to say you had an unlucky rail show jumping but Dunny really did, I didn't even think she had touched it! Luckily, with another easy clear cross country (including lots of excited squeals and some rather cheeky bronking up the hill!!) and a very good dressage, Dunny also won her section! I couldn't believe it, two wins in one day!
Dunny's video's at Firle - Dressage - Cross Country
Silken Creme | Firle Place International
No time to celebrate as Bridget had arrived with Skip who was first to do her dressage for the 1*. It was her first time in a long arena and her first ever 1*. She coped so well in the really difficult conditions for just a couple of green mistakes that can easily be rectified but otherwise produced some lovely work and even got 8's for her canter work! She scored 51.4 (FEI marking) which was perfectly respectable. Kate P was then really kind to bring Myrtle for us so she didn't have to stand on the Lorry all day as her test was not until about 5pm. Myrtle was doing a beautiful test until a marquee tried to take flight in the wind which spooked her. Thankfully she recovered quickly and scored 44.8 (FEI marking) which left us in the top ten overnight.
Back the next day and we very lucky to have all hands on deck to help as I had 6 horses between each of them- big thanks to Lizzie and Annie for coming along especially and the rest of the team. Myrtle jumped a faultless round which filled me with confidence for jumping Skip. It was the biggest course Skip has ever jumped but she rose to the occasion! Sadly we were a bit wrong off the last corner and had the last down as my stride was not good. Skip then went cross country and I set off determined to give her a good ride. She made it seem like she has done it before and was a pleasure to ride. Not only was she clear, she was also inside the time! She always tries her best. I am so proud of how far this little horse has come and I just love how our partnership has grown together. Knowing Skip had managed it, I had every faith in Myrtle not to let the team down! She certainly didn't let me down, and another clear inside the time. As I was near the end I had no idea what the competition was looking like so when Brigitte, Myrtle's owner, came running over to us after the XC to say we had gone into 2nd place I couldn't believe it! Skip finished 15th so both in the top 20. What an awesome weekend! I am so blessed to ride such wonderful horses and have a team of thoroughly supportive owners as well as my sponsor, Arka Equipe and Nigel Goddard (KSDigital Photography) for sending me some lovely photographs.
No time to rest as the next day we wanted to support Carolyne and her riding club who were holding a clear round at Coombelands in aid of The Willberry Wonder Pony Charity in memory of the late Hannah Francis. We decided to take our lovely little boy, Danny (Brendon) for a jump and as the turnout was so good we did not jump until the evening! Considering I can't remember when I last jumped him he jumped a beautiful clear round! He is such a star and we are looking for someone to take this super talented pony to his full potential.
Click here to see Danny's clear round.
As I am not very tall - depending how you look at it - I am still lucky enough to be able to ride ponies. So when Mum's friend rung up and asked if we could back her 3yo 11hh-something Welsh section A pony, of course she said yes. So then arrived April. She is so little it's like having an overgrown dog! She has been getting used to grooming, tacking up and has got the hang of lunging. I have managed to lay over her back and get her used to weight on her back. Now she has gone back for a little break and to take in what she has learnt before she comes back for the next stage of training. It is important not to rush them when they are young as horses do not forget!!
As Dunny and I are now members of BD, Carolyne wanted us to have a go at two more Prelims at a different venue. We are lucky to be just around the corner from Dressage at Hickstead so off we went one Friday. We had put ourselves in a tricky position after setting ourselves such a high standard after the previous two BD outings. Dunny got on with her job and was very well behaved producing two smooth tests. She scored a huge 75.51% and 76.7%. She is very talented for only a 6yo and has a very bright future! This meant we had secured 6/6 wins so far at BD! A vast change from the weather at Firle as it was super hot- my Dada Sport Corradina breeches from Arka Equipe are great for the Summer.
Click here to see Dunny at Hickstead.
The final bank holiday weekend of the summer brought us to KBIS Wellington horse trials with Myrtle in the OIu21. It was exciting to be riding on the Monday, the same day as the advanced as there was a great atmosphere there. Edward, Mum and I walked the course when we arrived. There were some tricky combinations and a tough water complex which included two hanging logs on one stride with a drop into the water and then a sharp turn to a jetty in the water. We watched a couple jump it and they chipped in a stride and ended up having very awkward jumps which did not fill me with confidence. Then followed a hanging log to a big corner on a tight angle and then there were two very skinny flower boxes from the London Olympics which was very exciting to jump! Myrtle warmed up nicely for the dressage but was not impressed with the big black scary writing on the back of the dressage boards as we entered the arena! Concentration back and she went on to do a nice test scoring 30. The show jumping was big and lots to look at with interesting jumps. She jumped super and the curse of the last fence was creeping up on us- so frustrating! I sat a little quietly off the last corner so we just rolled it. It was a hot day and I had a while to wait in the XC warm up. It's a thin line between making sure they stay focused but not tiring them out. Myrtle was very keen to get out the start box and I set off hoping for a clear round and not worrying about the time too much. At the half way point we were 20 seconds down but I did not panic. I rode the water just as I had planned and Myrtle positively flew it! By that point we were flying and when we came to the last fence I couldn't believe we were only going to be 4 seconds over the optimum time! A strong clear round meant we finished in 6th place!
Click here to see Myrtle at Wellington.
A successful month for the MJEventing team, and on the evening of Firle I got a very exciting phone call from the eventing reporter for Horse & Hound magazine! I couldn't believe it when a couple of days later I got another phone call from the Dressage reporter for Horse & Hound! On the 1st September I got my first interview on page 61 in H&H, and a week later (back to back issues!) I got another mention in the South- East dressage report. This is when you know you've had a good week!
