The end of June saw us return to Farley Hall, two years after our first trip there as last year it was abandoned due to flooding! No sign of any puddles this year! I have to say a huge thank you to our good friend Natasha for coming to help us with Skip and Myrtle at Farley. Skip was having a go at her second Intermediate and Myrtle was doing the Advanced Intermediate. This is where the dressage and show jumping are of Advanced level but Intermediate cross country. Myrtle once again got her 'posh' trot on and I was pleased with how she warmed up for the dressage. She was in a very hot section full of the top 4* combinations but she held her own. As I entered the dressage arena I put my leg on *que Flying change*. A cheeky interpretation of the test meant a costly mark for our entry however the rest of the test made up for it and I thought overall it was much better than the previous Advanced test she did at LD. She scored a 33.9. She was a bit lazy show jumping and we had a slightly frustrating 2 poles but a storming clear XC which she made feel like a BE90 and inside the time meant we finished 12th which was a great result in the section. Meanwhile Skip produced a very polished test to score 31.4- I feel we are so close to breaking the 70% barrier! Just one unlucky pole show jumping as I over rode the first double which I thought she would be spooky at but needless to say she wasn't. I set off XC cautious that it was only her second intermediate, and her first one was very tough so I wanted to make sure she was really confident. I needn't have worried as she flew round, eating the course up to also come home inside the time. The course at Farley Hall was very inviting and jumped nicely, I had great runs on both the mares. After checking the scores we were over the moon to see that Skip finished 3rd! She was finally getting the results she deserved. Clever girls.
The beginning of July took us to Brightling Park International with Joss and Des in the BE100. Both of them went well but not their usual competitive selves with some little mistakes. Des went a bit green in the dressage with a few wobbles and Joss had two fences down show jumping where she travelled a little too much through the distances. However they didn't disgrace themselves as Des picked up 10th place and Joss was just outside the top ten in 12th.
Mum and I set off very early to Upton House with Myrtle in our first Open Intermediate competition as she was now a prestigious Grade 1 Event horse. We arrived in good time so I walked the course, which was new to me as I had never been here before. Before Upton I had a really good dressage lesson on Myrtle which paid dividends. Despite following Tina Cook and Mark Todd in the dressage, Myrtle produced a beautiful test. I was SO pleased with it and didn't think I could do much better. I was delighted that our efforts has been rewarded with a best dressage mark of 26.8! However, we then had a steep learning curve with a disappointing show jumping. As they were running late, they were sending the horse in before the one before had finished. Unfortunately the girl before me fell of several times and crashed through the jumps. This really unsettled Myrtle who became very tense and upset about the situation. This resulted in a very un-characteristic 4 fences down which was a real shame but just one of those things! Luckily she got back into it by the XC and again flew round. I really feel like we are consolidated at this level XC now.
Eridge has to be one of my favourite events in the calendar, since the format changed a year or so ago. The dressage is in a nice, quiet spot and the show jumping is in a big arena with a fantastic atmosphere with lots of trade stands and crowds which is great to introduce to the young horses. The cross country is a lovely long, galloping track up and down the rolling countryside. First up was Dawn in the competitive BE90open section. It was only her third event and she showed such maturity and talent. Near the end of her XC we got held on the course due to a fence repair ahead of us. She was totally unfazed at having to stop and wait and just walked around quietly. When she was re-started she carried on like she had never stopped like a pro. We were very pleased she finished on her dressage score of 31.5 to come 4th! Joss was also competing the first day in the BE100. She did yet another solid dressage test to score 28.5 and after a change of bit show jumping she jumped an amazing clear round much to our excitement! I knew she would find the XC easy as she just eats up the hills so the time was no problem. Another clean sheet put Joss on top of the podium for the first WIN of the weekend! On a high, I was excited the next day to have Skip in the Intermediate and Des in the BE100. Both did super dressage tests and were lying competitively in their sections. Skip scored 32.3 and Des scored a 31.3 which I thought was maybe a little high but it was very good in the section. The intermediate show jumping was up to height and lots of combinations but it was no problem for Skip. This was the first time I felt she was really confident and knew exactly what to do and jumped a foot perfect clear. A huge milestone for us! The XC was causing lots of problems but Skip and I have such a good partnership I was not worried. She ate up the course, and gave me a wonderful ride picking up minimal time faults compared to most. Skip flew into the lead by over 5 marks making it a very emotional WIN. She has come such a long way over the last 3 years, from a horse who could not even canter properly to winning her first BE event at Intermediate level. Very very proud jockey and so happy for her owners, Bridget and Martin who have been so supportive all the way. Just as the day couldn't get any better, Des produced an easy double clear to also WIN his section in fine style making it a clean sweep 4/4 double clears and 3/4 wins for the weekend! This was very special to me as Eridge Park was the place where I did my first ever ODE when I was 6 years old.
Following up an amazing weekend, Skip made her debut appearance in Horse & Hound magazine with a lovely write up and photograph to go with it.
We decided it was time for little Elvis to have a go at his first BE100 so we made a trip to Felbridge for the combined training. He did his first one here back in March around the 80 where he didn't even understand what the dressage arena was. This time, he knew his job and did a lovely, relaxed test to get best dressage with 29.5. A little spook in the show jumping meant just one pole down but he jumped round with ease. He finished up 4th- a good day in the office!
This time it was Dunny's turn at Wilton. This is a gorgeous venue in Wiltshire but hours of heavy rain made the going very tricky and Dunny with no back shoes or studs made for an interesting event... I needn't have worried because she did one of her super tests to score 23.3 which put her in 3rd after dressage. A very silly mistake from me show jumping (saw a terrible stride) meant just one rail but Dunny jumped really well. The XC at Wilton has two very steep hills in the first half before flattening out. Dunny was SO careful coming down the hill not to slip and I had to take a turn between two jumps very wide so she did not fall, meaning I jumped the second jump virtually sideways but she is so honest and will jump anything. She finished clear and inside the time to stay in 3rd place! Dunny is so reliable and such a joy to compete! She loves her job!
To finish this blog installment, I come to The Festival Of British Eventing at Gatcombe Park where Myrtle and I had qualified for the prestigious Intermediate Championship! I was so excited to be competing back here, two years after my first visit when I did the Corinthian Cup. It is an incredibly special event, and a huge stage to compete on with a field of International superstars, with large crowds and a buzzing atmosphere. We packed all the lorry up and finally headed off to Gatcombe on the Thursday as Myrtle was due to do her dressage on the Friday. When we got down there, I had to time to take Myrtle for a ride and let her settle in. I love the atmosphere at these over night events, in the stable areas there is a real sense of community and lots of happy horses - they just love what they do! The next day, I was joined by my dressage trainer which was really special for me as I have huge respect for him and couldn't thank him enough for coming down to Gloucestershire to help me warm up. He has done wonders for my riding and my confidence over the last couple of years. Myrtle was on late in the day so I had time to ride her again in the morning to let her loosen up before getting her out later to prepare for our test. She was feeling 'on fire' and was certainly raring to go! As we entered our test, Myrtle could see the crowds watching and as it is a championship there is commentary in the dressage - thus creating quite an atmosphere! She did a very cheeky flying change on our first entry, however it was so perfect only one judge (there were 3) noticed. Only one other mistake was also on our entry where we set off in canter from our halt rather than trot... once back to the correct pace we continued to do a really pleasing test. Watching back, I was delighted with Myrtle's test. She was quite 'hot' to ride in the arena but we managed to keep it together and score a great mark of 32.9. That evening, we all went for a fab dinner at the local pub with much laughter to say the least!
The next day, Edward and I took the shuttle over to the main show ground to walk the show jumping course at about 9am. I arrived over there and texted Mum back to say the ground was perfect so Myrtle would only need gentle studs. We walked the course, which was very much up to height, tricky undulating ground and a tight time limit. I had about 5 mins to watch the first couple before I needed to catch the shuttle back to get on Myrtle. Just as the first one entered the arena the heavens opened; and when I say the heavens opened, I mean a months rain fell in about 5 minutes. The ground instantaneously deteriorated. The rain caused chaos in the car park as cars were skidding which meant that the shuttle cars were held up so I was seriously rushing to get back to Myrtle in time! No time to change her studs as I had to hack her over to warm up. She jumped super in the warm up, considering the ground and the slope the jumps were on. I went into the arena happy with how she was jumping. Due to my own fault for not riding forward enough we had the second fence down as she caught the back rail. We then turned to the third fence which was a double of uprights facing into the crowds. I don't know what happened, but Myrtle stopped. This took us very much both by surprise. I don't know whether she was just a little startled by all the people or whether she was not happy with the ground. However, we got our act together and proceeded to jump the most perfect round after this and jumped out of her skin! I couldn't believe what happened as she jumped SO well. Sadly because of the stop we picked up rather a lot of time faults which was very frustrating as it definitely did not do the rest of her round justice!
Lunchtime came, and the Intermediate Championship XC was due to start... before the heavens yet again opened. I can't even describe how much rain fell... And the thunder... And the lightening... Edward even managed to take a mud slide down the path... It was so bad that they had to hold the XC for over an hour before they could start to allow the course to drain. It was a dreadful shame, as when we walked the XC on Friday the ground was utterly perfect. When I actually set off, the ground actually rode really well considering. The drop after fence 3 I can only compare to that of the Derby Bank so when we managed to safely negotiate that I thought we would be ok! The course was long, winding and very technical with lots of skinnies and angles- not the most ideal course for Myrtle- but we set off to give it our best shot. The first real test came early on. It consisted of a stone wall, 6 strides to a 'bridge- hedge- on a wall- with a giant drop', followed by a left handed 90 degree turn to another wall, with another left handed turn to a 'shoulder brush' on an angle. I was worried Myrtle may over jump the big hedge and we would miss the turn, but I needn't have worried. She jumped round the combination beautifully and was listening to me all the way. We then negotiated the first two water combinations which posed many questions. By this point in the course, the crowds were huge but Myrtle jumped round without batting an eyelid. She popped into the waters like childs play. On we went, to another tricky question. A big wall to another very skinny, angled wall which jumped directly into the face of the crowds in the 'Park bowl' and then another tricky skinny combination at the top of the hill. We were clear 3 fences from home. The last water. I turned to the hanging log which was suspended over the edge of the water and lined up for the boat in the water. I got to the log and to my huge surprise Myrtle went to take off but then put her feet back down right in the jump! Myrtle has never looked at water before and after jumping the first 3 waters I couldn't understand what had upset her. She came round and jumped it second time - albeit a little sticky. She carried on the last few jumps clear and although crossing the line I was a little deflated from the stop I was so proud of her to complete one of the toughest courses we have ever done. I steadily came back to trot up the hill and as I started to slow more, I knew something was not right. I jumped off her instantly to see what the matter was. My Mum and Edward came running over and I told them something was not right. As we walked her back to the stable she became more and more lame. I was so upset. Seeing your team mate and best friend in pain is the most distressing situation and I was so desperate to help her. People were so kind back in the lorry park and helped to get the vet over to her stable very quickly. The vet was super and could instantly diagnose Myrtle which was almost a relief as it is better to know than not to know what the problem is. He treated her and gave her some medication to help her become more comfortable. So not the outcome of Gatcombe we wanted but nevertheless I was just thankful to bring Myrtle home, and although a little sore, she seemed happy in her face and I think she had really enjoyed her competition. She absolutely thrives on work and going to parties. One thing was that we can pretty much say that her un-characteristic stop XC was most likely due to the fact she had injured herself and was worried about jumping down a drop. It just showed what a brave girl she is and how big her heart was to dig so deep and finish the course. I admit it took me some time to get over what happened that weekend, and a huge learning curve. Horses are not machines and sadly at the higher levels, the risk of injury becomes greater. When we returned home, we had a long discussion with her owner Brigitte, and after much deliberation we decided to try and put her in foal as we were planning on doing an embryo transfer the following Spring anyway. Much to our delight, Myrtle has been scanned in foal (to a gorgeous husband!!) so now just a long waiting game and keeping our fingers crossed! I would like to also add, Myrtle is doing well and coping very well with her box rest as she is getting all the attention she so loves!!
