Smiles and Success

I am going to start with the sad news. Two weeks ago we said goodbye to our little Sam, as he was sold to a lovely girl who saw him at Munstead unaffiliated horse trials and then came to try him. We delivered Sam to his new home where he will enjoy the company of other ponies and point to point horses with his new owner. He has been such a superstar since we bought him back in January and he will be missed greatly by everyone in the yard. 

Rockwood Sam

On Sunday 24th May, we set off to Coombelands for the HDRC Horse Trials with Jamboree (Jambo) and Strike Up The Band (Twiggy). This was my first event on Jambo but she was very well behaved and stepped up to the mark and set the bench mark for the day. She scored a 26 dressage and jumped a double clear to finish 2nd!! Fantastic result for our first event. Next up it was Twiggy's turn and she did not disappoint. With a 24.5 dressage and another double clear we finished 4th. I was over the moon with my results, especially two sub- 30 dressage's and two double clears! It was lovely to be joined by Jambo's owners, Fiona Irwin, who came along to watch for the day. Click the links to Jambo's video and Twiggy's video.

 

In the mean time, we have been popping down to Pyecombe BS for some practice in between events. 

 

This weekend was a very busy one. I was entered both days at Borde Hill Horse Trials with Strike Up The Band, Skip To The Beat (Skip) and Brighton Rock II (Elvis). The three bays! Saturday brought about the turn of the girls, and both were stepping up a level. This time Twiggy was doing the BE90 and Skip was doing the BE100. I had walked all three cross country courses on the Friday so I was well prepared for what was in store. With a lot of changes and new fences on the course I was unsure how the mares would tackle the tracks. 

First up was Twiggy's dressage and I was joined by Lizzie, Annie, Jackie, Edward and my Mum who was there to watch and help. I was super pleased with Twiggy's dressage, she was feeling great and worked very well for me. I was very glad to miss the loose horse that came charging through the dressage arenas from the cross country!! Straight after my test we hurried back to the lorry to meet Bridget and Martin who had brought Skip and I set off to warm her up. I'm so lucky my amazing dressage saddle (Prestige Venus- K New) from Arka Equipe fits all my horses so I can use it on all of them as it really helps my position. Skip warmed up very well and she produced a very calm and obedient test.

Strike Up The Band 

We had a little wait until Twiggy's jumping but I found out my dressage score which was 33.8, I was a little disappointed as I felt she deserved better marks but the dressage sheet has given me areas to improve. The show jumping was causing lots of problems as it always does (it's on the side of a hill!) but I was confident going in on Twiggy. She was jumping a foot perfect clear until we came to the wall where she went to spook but I kicked her on so she jumped but unfortunately had it down. In that split second I decided that was the best decision otherwise a stop would have incurred many time penalties. We then went on to jump the rest of the course clear. I made a quick change into my cross country gear and off I set. Twiggy stormed round the course with no problems and gave me a super ride. One down, two to go! 

Skip scored a dressage mark of 33 which I was very pleased with for her first BE100, especially as this is the phase she finds hardest. Once again her jumping was amazing, she manages to put a huge smile on my face every time I jump her. She just sprouts wings!! Apart from getting a little bit excited in the show jumping ring she still managed to jump a clear round. The cross country was testing enough and with a lot of new questions for Skip, however she took to it like a pro and gave me a very mature clear round with no green moments at all. I couldn't believe how well this little horse went (and she doesn't actually turn 6 until August!). It was lovely that her breeder, who is also Bridget's brother, Guy Avis could be there to watch her jump a double clear. 

Both girls finished 8th in their sections, which we were all delighted with. A fantastic first day at Borde Hill. Click the links for Twiggy's video and Skip's video.

Skip To The Beat

On to Sunday and it was the boy's turn. Elvis was doing the Novice so we were the last class of the day and the weather was AWFUL!! After such a beautiful day on Saturday I couldn't believe how bad it had become over night. However this did not dampen my spirits and off we set through the mud to the dressage. Unfortunately I did not do one of my better tests shall we say, afterwards I was totally kicking myself as I wish I could have done it over again! Never mind, we packed up the lorry as I had hours until my jumping so we set off back home for a very civilised lunch in the warmth of G Sue's (Sue Bunn) kitchen and got everything dry on the aga. I think Elvis was a little confused but we could all definitely get used to it! A couple of hours later we returned to Borde Hill. We were also joined at this point by Sue Bendelow who has become a loyal supporter of MJEventing. Just as I was about to go in for my show jumping, the heavens opened and we got soaked. This was not a problem until I was coming to the last fence (which was of course a double) and Elvis pulled forwards and my reins completely slipped through my fingers where they were so wet and I just didn't have enough time to re- gather them so we ended up a little bit speedy which meant we had the double down. I was gutted as he had jumped out of his skin the whole way round, I was so pleased with his jumping that the 8 faults were not a fair depiction of how he went. Unfortunately it was one of those unlucky things that could not be changed so I went cross country in a positive mind to come back with 3/3 clears cross country. I was trying a new bit this time and so I was hoping to have good brakes so that I could kick on and get as near to the optimum time as possible. Once again as I set off it poured down with rain. Luckily things like this do not bother Elvis, especially as he is a cross country machine! He loved the course and flew round just over the optimum time but I had a brilliant time out there. He has given me so much confidence with my jumping because he so bold and brave at the bigger fences. We finished in the top 20, and I came away having three brilliant rides that weekend and the best of fun. 

Thank you to everyone who came and helped that weekend, as I could not have done it alone! A full album of pictures from the weekend can be seen on my Facebook page Melissa Joannides Eventing. 

Brighton Rock II 




Wow!

Skip To The Beat | Chilham Castle

Wow! What a brilliant couples of weeks have just flown by! I am sad they are over.

After the departure of Jasper, we were joined by the latest recruit to M.J Eventing. Jamboree, who is a beautiful grey mare and is owned by the Irwin family who have just bought a larger  horse so would like to sell Jambo on. We took her cross country schooling to Coombelands where she went very well, so she is aimed at the HDRC horse trials there at the end of the month. 

That week it was all systems go preparing the two mares, Twiggy and Skip, for Chilham Castle horse trials. It was my first event on Twiggy so she was entered in the BE80 and Skip was in the BE90. 

On Saturday morning, Mum, Edward and I left early in the horsebox with Skip who was first to go. She did a very calm and obedient test which I was really pleased with. Disappointingly, the judge did not agree and gave us a low mark of 40. We know how much Skip's flatwork has improved and how well behaved she was so I shrugged off her mark as it is down to the judge's own opinion. I kicked on for a lovely double clear inside the time which I was delighted with. This mare is a jumping machine, she makes me smile over every fence!! Despite our dressage score, we finished a respectable 15th out of 40 competitors.

Skip's three phases can be viewed if you click here. 

Sue and Ellie then met us there at lunchtime with Twiggy so Mum could push off back to the yard that way the horses did not have to wait all day. Twiggy not only did a good dressage but she got the best dressage of the day with a 23.3!! We slightly let ourselves down show jumping having two poles which ran downhill, but luckily our dressage was good enough that we were still leading going into cross country. I kicked on as I knew I could not afford any time faults so we flew round! We tentatively waited at the scoreboards for my final score. Much to my relief we were clear inside the time so had come 1st!! My first win of the season, I couldn't have been happier! 

Twiggy's dressage test can be viewed if you click here.

Huge thanks to Mum, Sue, Ellie and Edward who came along to help and support for the day and to Nigel Goddard from KSDigital Photography for the lovely photographs. It was nice to see Annabel from Arka Equipe again at Chilham Castle who got a lovely snippet of Skip's cross country on video. 

Strike Up The Band | Chilham Castle

The next day I was in for a huge surprise. We got back very late from Chilham on Saturday so when I was told I had to be up at 4am the next morning I was not too thrilled... So at 4.30am I said goodbye to Mum as I thought Edward was taking me on a day trip somewhere! Much to my surprise we arrived at Gatwick airport where he told me we had a 6.40am flight to Barcelona!! It had been planned all along and I had no idea! I felt like a very lucky lady that weekend and touched at the planning that had gone into it. It's amazing going on holiday and not having to pack yourself! We had a really lovely few days away, doing lots of sightseeing and were blessed with the gorgeous Spanish sunshine. Arriving back in England on Wednesday evening in gale force winds was not welcoming especially as our plane struggled to land! Seems like I missed the worst of the weather that weekend (bonus!!).

Barcelona 

Back to hard graft again, this time preparing four horses for the HDRC dressage and combined training at Hickstead on Sunday, (although we did manage an afternoon off watching the Badminton cross country on TV which is almost regarded as a bank holiday at Stuccles yard!).

It was lovely to be joined by my gran who had come along to support for the day on Sunday. Competing at Hickstead is brilliant because we can just hack each horse across the field to the showground.  First up was my little Sam in the 80cm combined training. He produced a beautiful test and scored a very good mark of 24.7 followed by a clear round jumping so he came 3rd! My first competition on Jambo also in the 80cm and she was 4th behind Sam on a score of 25.2 and clear jumping. The two greys were on great form! 

Next it was the turn of the two bays, Skip and Elvis. Skip was doing her first 1m class and she got best dressage in her class with a 31 (a much fairer mark!!). Unfortunately we just caught the last rail show jumping so finished 2nd. I was happy to have jumped 41 show jumps clear up until that point! As the jumping did not go high enough, Elvis just had a go at two dressage tests. In the first one which was a Novice 34 we came 3rd and we also came 3rd in our second test (elementary 42)! 

The videos will be uploaded in due course. 

That brings me to the end of a great couple of weeks. The horses are all going well and I look forward to our next competitions. Can't thank my team enough for all their support and help!

 

Little & Large

First of all I am delighted to announce last Tuesday I passed my LGV practical test so now have my LGV licence. Ellie and I then headed back to Lancing on Friday to complete the course with the module 4 CPC training and test which we both passed with flying colours. This means we are now both fully qualified LGV drivers!! That is a huge weight lifted off my shoulders now it is all done and completed. 

Jasper, the pony who we have had in for schooling, has been going very well. His lateral work has improved and he has become a lot more uphill since his topline has strengthened. We were visited by his owners last week who were very pleased with his progress and are looking forward to the Summer ahead with him. 

The weekend was then taken up by two competitions with the smallest and largest GG's of the yard, the first being Munstead Unaffiliated for Sam's debut event. I was very excited to take him as he is so much fun to ride and a truly lovely pony. He pulled out a very good test with a 34.5 which left us lying in the top ten after the dressage even though we had a slight miscommunication cantering down the long side (remembering this is only his second ever time in a grass arena!).

We then had a while to wait for our jumping, but he took it all in his stride and was so relaxed the whole day like he had been doing it his whole life. I was absolutely over the moon with his show jumping, first time jumping on grass and he jumped a beautiful clear round giving everything oodles of room! He has really started to flick out behind and is so neat over a fence. We changed and went straight to cross country. He set out the start box with not a single hesitation and flew round the course well inside the time to finish on his dressage score and in 3rd place. Not a bad first event!! He is most definitely a superstar in the making and has the most perfect temperament to go with it. 

A full album of pictures from the day can be seen on my Facebook page. 

After a successful day we returned home, I finished the riding at the yard and we re-packed the lorry ready for Hambledon International on Sunday with Elvis. With very civilised start times of 3.30pm for my dressage we did not have to leave until midday. This meant all the yard was done and all horses ridden before leaving which is always a bonus especially as we would be home late because my cross country was not until 5.50pm.  We arrived in plenty of time to allow a good length of time to warm up for my dressage and find our way around. This was my first trip to Hambledon and I really liked the venue and the way it was run. Everything ran to time and they even had electronic live score boards which meant no waiting around for scores! Much to my relief Elvis was much calmer this time out and did a respectable test to score 35.8. Overall I was pleased with his test, especially his leg yields and free rein walk which were very good. Mum, Ellie, Edward and I then set off to walk what was a very tough Novice track. The first water came up very quickly and then you set off round the woods where there were numerous skinny fences, drops and a lot of steps! At the second water I planned to take the straight route over the log drop into it. We ran back to the lorry with only 20 minutes to my show jumping time so it was all hands on deck getting Elvis tacked up and ready to go. I have now fine tuned Elvis's warm up with Ellie for the show jumping. It involves minimal jumping, literally just doing 3-6 fences as this way he stays focused and does not get over- excited. I had watched the course and there were very few clear rounds and the fences were quite spooky! I have become a lot more confident with my show jumping and I rode the course very positively. This was rewarded with a clear round! I am so pleased Elvis is now showing how well he can jump as he is so capable. 

I set off on the cross country as the event was starting to quieten down as it was getting near the end of the day. Elvis was flying round and had so far jumped the fences I thought would be tricky until we got to a very skinny brush before the second water complex. The approach was round a tree after a long gallop and I think for this reason Elvis locked onto the fence just a bit too late so he glanced past it. I knew it was definitely not him being naughty as he is usually so good with skinnies. I quickly turned around and jumped the alternative brush (as I had knocked down the flag from the skinny) which he popped over but this meant I had to take the alternative at the water down the step. This didn't matter, he jumped straight in no problem at all. We finished the course with no other problems, he is very good jumping cross country and totally loves it! As I had to circle I incurred quite a few time penalties but I was very pleased we had got round as it was only his fourth Novice. 

Nigel Goddard from KSDigital photography very kindly got some photographs of me going through the bluebells on the cross country all of which can be seen on my Facebook page. Huge thanks to Ellie, Edward, Mum and Sue Bunn (Elvis's owner) for all their help and support over the long weekend as without them it would not be possible! 

We're in the money!!!

Everyday last week at 7.30am I headed down to Lancing for 4 hours of LGV driver training around Brighton, Hove, Portslade and Worthing. As many people know I am not the tallest person in the world so I did get quite a few strange looks driving an 18 tonne lorry. The driving went well and I will take my test in a few weeks. 

That left only the afternoons to get ridden and prepare for another busy weekend ahead. With VERY civilised times on Saturday we managed to get 5 horses ridden in a group hack before setting  off to South of England Horse Trials with Elvis in the Novice. I had already walked the cross country course the night before as the venue is so close to the yard so I was well aware what was waiting for me! We had a lovely group of people that had come to support Elvis and I and the weather was kind to us in the afternoon so it was a really lovely day out. 

With a not-so-amazing dressage I went into the show jumping, which was causing enough problems, with a level head.  Elvis was jumping out of his skin in the warm up so I was confident. I had seen where horses were spooking and was ready for Elvis to react. Well it turned out I had good reason to not be worried as he jumped a beautiful clear round. I am over the moon how well his jumping has improved as I know he is more than capable. We then made a quick turn around at the lorry into our cross country kit. I am lucky to wear the Dainese Balios level 3 body protector from Arka Equipe which is a very high safety standard as well as being super comfy. Since August last year Elvis has been wearing EQU StreamZ bands which have aided his overall improvement. His chiropractor quoted that she had never seen Elvis in such good shape. 

In the cross country warm up Elvis wanted everyone to know that in fact he should have been lining up at Aintree for the Grand National (which he would probably fly round!!) as it took Ellie and Mum to lead him into the start box. He was definitely in brat mode!! After a minor battle over fence 1 and 2 which ran directly past the warm up ring, we were absolutely flying! He does love his cross country and he is always looking between the red and white flags. He stormed round the tough track and I barely had a chanced to look at my stopwatch. Much to my relief we were only 3 seconds over the optimum time. It wasn't until we saw the scoreboards we realised how many time faults people were getting. 

We were so delighted Elvis had jumped a double clear and his speedy cross country round meant we climbed all the way up the leader board and ended up in podium position with a 3rd place and in the money!! This is a pb result for Elvis and he now has his first 4 BE points! 

You can view his show jumping and cross country if you click this link. 

Many thanks to Nigel Goddard from KS Digitial Photography for taking some wonderful photos on the cross country course of the jump - step - jump combination. Don't forget Nigel is now taking commissions for home photo shoots so make sure to get in touch with him for some gorgeous Spring setting photographs with you and your beloved steed! 

More photos from the day at SOE can be viewed on my facebook page Melissa Joannides Eventing.

More beautiful weather on Sunday meant we were treated to a second day out, this time at the HDRC Hunter Trial at Coombelands. I went ahead and walked the course and then Mum met me there with Sam and Twiggy on board. Sam was in the Open Novice at 11.25am. However they were running behind time so he just chilled out before his round. He went on to do a very calm and pleasing clear round with no problems whatsoever. In the huge class we came an amazing 10th place! I must have timed the round pretty well. 

We then enjoyed a wonderful lunch created by my Grandmother who had come along for the day and we were also joined by the lovely Sue Bendelow. Ellie was competing on Twiggy in the afternoon so we had some spare time. It was nice to catch up with lots of friendly faces at the local event and many thanks to HDRC for putting on a great competition. 



Easter holiday?

What an exciting week that has just been! 

On Tuesday afternoon I took Sam and Joss cross country schooling at Coombelands in preparation for their hunter trials over the weekend. Both were very well behaved as expected and jumped everything first time. I am very pleased to have Mum back riding again, she helped me warm Sam up whilst I took Joss round the course first to save time. I am enjoying being able to hack out with Mum again back at the yard which I have not been able to do for a long time. 

Thursday brought about the first competition of the week. By far my favourite Hunter Trial of the year, and one that I have been doing since I was about 6 with my ponies. Stonehall Hunter Trial is a proper hunting style course with hedges, ditches, numerous drop fences and is probably one of the longest covering about 10 fields! I had three fabulous clear rounds starting with Sam in the Open Novice course. This was the first time he has done a course on his own and it was only his second hunter trial. Absolutely nothing phased him in the slightest and he merrily cantered away out the start box. My second round was on Joss in the Open Pairs which I did with Ellie and Twiggy. We had SO much fun and a right giggle going round. This was the first time Ellie had done the pairs and it was down to me to be SAT NAV (purely because I was the only one to have walked the course!). Rather proudly we came 3rd as we were 1/3 of the only clear rounds! Very kindly Bridget Lyne brought Skip for me to jump round the Open to the world  class at the end of the day. Skip gave me a wonderful ride round in a very mature manner. I was unsure how she would cope with all the varying terrain and unusual fences but she took it all in her stride and as ever, jumped amazingly. 

Click this link for a snippet video of Stonehall Hunter Trials.

Back home for a very quick turn around (and a lot of tack cleaning) to re- load the lorry for Somerley Park International Horse Trials on Friday with Elvis. After the cancellation of Goring Heath we re-routed to the extra day at Somerley Park which they had very kindly added on to the event. By 7.30am Friday morning, all morning stables had been completed and Elvis (along with companion Sam and co.) were on the way to Somerley. Mum, Ellie and I travelled in the lorry whilst we were followed down by Sue and Edward in the car. We arrived in perfect timing to be towed in by tractor (always a good start) but at least the rain had stopped! The ground conditions were not fantastic but the ground team at Somerley had done a fantastic job to keep the show on the road and actually the course rode very well. Unfortunately I had the second fence down show jumping as Elvis was having a good look at the spectators but he then did jump very well. Cross country I had another fabulous ride and we cruised round inside the time and were one of a handful to do so thanks to my new stopwatch! I was worried about the jump to the water but in the end I had no need to be, as you can see in the video he popped through it easily. Having no time faults meant we climbed up the leader board to a respectable 8th place. I was delighted for Elvis to finish in the top ten in his second Novice and pleased that the last minute entry had been worthwhile. Click here to watch my show jumping and cross country at Somerley Park Int. 

The cancellation of Goring Heath also meant that on Saturday we could do Munstead Hunter Trial with myself riding Sam and Edward riding Joss.  We went round the 80cm pairs and jumped a clear round making that a 100% clear cross country strike rate for the week. Edward rode a fantastic round for what was only his second ever cross country. It is lovely to be able to help and watch Edward progress with Joss as it is nice for the owners to enjoy their horses as much I as enjoy riding their horses. Mum much to my amazement got quite a decent video of our round at Munstead which I will be adding to my YouTube in the next couple of days.

After Munstead we were back in time for the arrival of a new pony. 'Jasper' is a 5 year old Connemara that has come to MJEventing to help progress his education, especially on the flat. I will look forward to working with him and seeing how he improves. If you would like your horse or pony to come for training please do not hesitate to contact us. 

Finally to finish off what was a very long week, on Sunday evening I was treated to a lovely hack up the South Downs to finish the Easter weekend. Nothing clears your head and prepares you for a new week more than cantering through fresh air with peace and quiet!! 

Full steam ahead!

The past week has flown by and has been jam-packed for the team with various competitions, training and exams! Last Saturday Joss and Sam (Rockwood Sam) went and did the pairs at their first ever hunter trial at Firle Place. This was also Edward's first time cross country and Joss was the best horse for him to go round on to give him a safe ride and give him a taste of the adrenalin. I was very pleased with how Sam behaved, he was totally relaxed and took on the course like an old pro. Waking up at the crack of dawn to be at Firle for 8am was worth it much to my relief as the next day I was to be at Littleton Manor in Reigate at 8.30am. This meant having done morning stables to leave the yard by 7.30am. 

Joss and Sam looking very pleased with themselves!

So Mum and I headed to LMEQ for Sam's first combined training which was also his first time ever doing a dressage test (and it was on grass). Needless to say he totally pulled it out of the bag and scored 22 for best dressage. He then followed that with a lovely jumping round, just had one fence down as he was a little bit tired by this point as he had been cross country the day before  (the combined training was postponed from the Friday to the Sunday). Sam loves his jumping and isn't spooked by anything. He was rewarded with a 2nd place at his second show. I am delighted with his progress and I think he has a very bright future.  Click this link to watch his dressage on YouTube. This week he has been doing a lot of sleeping!!  

On Tuesday morning we made a quick decision to take Elvis down to Brendon Pyecombe for the BS senior affiliated show. Usually Elvis does not like pure show jumping shows... he just knows there is no cross country! However, much to my delight he jumped a beautiful double clear in the Newcomers (1.10m) even though we had minor disagreement about going back past the gate so ended up with a technical 4 faults. I'm just glad we kept all the poles in tact! I then took him in his first Foxhunter (1.20m) which was also my first one. We had a couple of poles down but he jumped most of the course very well. I am excited he is now ready to start regularly competing at that level as it has taken a long time to get his show jumping on track. 

Completely changing the subject, Ellie and I put our 'trucker's hats' on and had a quick swat up on LGV driving to take our CPC theory tests on Wednesday which we both passed! 2/3 of the way to getting our licence, now all that's left is the actual driving. Yes, that is quite a scary thought... 

Back to dressage again, as on Friday I had a dressage lesson with Tessa Martin-Bird on Elvis. She is helping me to keep Elvis relaxed during his warm up and his test by giving me some exercises and routines. The lesson was very beneficial as Elvis worked well and I have come away with homework to practice. 

I can't believe how quickly we have become so busy! In between all this the two young horses, Miranda and June owned by Sue Bunn have been coming on leaps and bounds. Miranda (4YO) has done her first trotting poles and even done a small jump, as well as hacking out. Jubilee June (3YO) has now trotted round off the lunge and has also graduated to the big school and is trotting over poles. 

And last but by no means the least, Saturday brought about my first event on Skip To The Beat at Munstead in the BE90 which I was very excited about. My dressage time was 8.18am just to carry on the crack of dawn theme this week much to my amusement! Ellie was also competing on her mare at Munstead later on in the day and Mum was driving her in the lorry so I had Edward as my number one helper/ driver/ coach/ photographer. This was no problem for his second ever experience of eventing!! We met Martin Lyne and Skip there at 7am to get her all tacked up and studs in with plenty of time for her dressage warm up as I wanted her to be very relaxed for her test. We were also joined by the lovely Karolina and Lucas from Arka Equipe who had come to support me. It was great to see them again and for them to meet Skip and Martin for the first time. I was over the moon with Skip's dressage as she got a 32.3 with only one mistake in her test. She stayed calm the whole time and worked really well with me as we are still getting to know one another. 

Quick walk of the show jumping before it started and I was back on again. She felt soft in the warm up and was listening to me and totally focused on the job in hand. This resulted in a very pleasing clear round jumping. As she is still young and inexperienced she can be easily distracted but she was not distracted at all at Munstead. We then all walked the cross country together and it was great to hear Martin's opinions on the course and how he thought Skip would cope. This was my first cross country round on Skip so I didn't know what to expect. Luckily I had absolutely nothing to worry about and Ellie, Mum and Sue arrived in time to watch Skip's foot perfect round inside the time. She gave me an awesome ride and never hesitated at anything. We finished in 10th place on our dressage score; I couldn't have asked for a better debut partnering this cracking little horse. To top it off a great day, Karolina also gave me some beautiful new rugs from Arka Equipe which I can't wait to try out! I am extremely grateful to the support of my owners, sponsors and team of helpers who help keep me on my career path.

On my Facebook page there is a full album of pictures from the day, some taken by Nigel Goddard from KSDigital Photography. You can also watch all three phases of Skip at Munstead on my YouTube channel if you click this link. 

 

The season has begun!!

All the practice and training throughout the winter is now being put to good use now the season has begun. Two weeks ago the team and I travelled to Aston-Le-Walls in Oxfordshire with Sue (Bunn) at the helm of the horsebox and Elvis (Brighton Rock II) on board along with travelling companion Sam for the BE100. Although we left in plenty of time we found out that in fact the journey took longer than we had originally anticipated. This little hiccup meant there was no time to walk the cross country before hand but instead jump straight onto Elvis and head down to the dressage warm up. He warmed up nicely (even though the warm up was so small it meant a 17hh horse could just about manage a 10m circle) and then he started his test. Well first of all apart from it being the first event and Elvis being totally over excited about the whole thing and spooking at the judges box (terrifying obviously) he did do a nice test. It was a shame the judge didn't agree. Moving onto the jumping phases and Elvis went on to jump a lovely double clear so this was a good start to the season as I have been working on his show jumping a lot over the winter at home, making sure he doesn't rush to his fences or after the fence. 

Last week was been very busy for the M.J Eventing team. Sue's two youngsters Miranda (4YO) and June (3YO) came back into work and by Thursday I was back on top of them again walking and trotting around on the lunge. On Wednesday we took Sam, Twiggy and Skip cross country schooling at Coombelands and they all jumped very well. Sam was a lot more confident for his second time and was flying round. This was my first time taking Skip cross country and she was awesome. She is such a bold mare and has an enormous jump. I told Bridget (Lyne) I might need a parachute when I go eventing! Ellie (Brown) rode Twiggy in preparation for her first event at Munstead at the end of the month. 

On Friday Sue, Mum, Nigel and I made the long awaited trip to Tweseldown for Elvis' first Novice and he definitely did not disappoint! After walking the course I was very pleased to realise that the jumps we had been building at home in the school were very similar to the questions being asked in both jumping phases. We are very lucky to have a school big enough to have a whole course of show jumps out. I am convinced Ellie and Mum are physic. Skinnies, 90 degree turns and angles; check. 

Once again he warmed up well and stayed relaxed. He was a lot more settled this time than his first outing much to my relief. His dressage test was good and he is improving every time out as he did not put a foot wrong. He was rewarded with 36.5 penalties which was average in his section so we were all very pleased. I was delighted with his show jumping and kicking myself at the same time. He was jumping a beautiful round until I messed up the second to last fence so we came away with 4 faults. Still a vast improvement on his behalf and I am really enjoying jumping him now we have a great partnership. Cross country; all I can say is that he was totally awesome and I came through the finish with the biggest smile on my face (and not being able to stop!) He was very bold and nothing was going to stop him jumping that day so I had a brilliant ride. In the end we finished up 13th which is a huge achievement for Elvis in his first Novice. I am very thankful to my sponsor Nigel Goddard from KSDigital Photography coming to support me and taking some lovely photos which can be viewed on my facebook page. At Tweseldown I was wearing my new Dada Sport Myrtille jacket from Arka Equipe which has been beautifully embroidered for me and I absolutely love it. Couldn't recommend a more stylish or comfortable jacket. It is made from modern fabrics in a classic design so is practical and elegant. 

Tweseldown Novice