Select An Event From The 2007 Archive Choose Event 11th August: Speedgate (Percy) 9th August: Southern Regional Finals (Percy) 2nd August: Oldencraig (Percy) 7th July: Oldencraig (Percy) 30th June: Oldencraig (Blarney) 23rd June: Blue Barn (Percy) 17th June: Stilebridge Farm (Percy) 20th May: Mattingley ODE (Blarney) 28th April: Oldencraig (Percy) 21st April: Tweseldown ODE (Blarney)

 

11th August at Speedgate was the second time out in a week for Vicky and Percy and signalled the end of this season; quite simply, with the baby on the way, Vicky will not be able to ride a test soon. With some particularly harsh scoring (and some surprising comments) she was first in with Elementary Test 43. A solid test resulted in a score of 63.79% and second place overall.

Next up was the qualifier for the Winter Regional Finals and Percy was to leave the best to last. Knowing that Percy can really sparkle on occasions, Vicky went in to do Elementary Test 48 with the aim of getting that something special out of him; and she did. With a score of 67.93% Percy won not only the restricted class but came first overall. A great feeling to close off a season on a winning note and get within striking distant of the Winter Regional Finals, one more win and they would qualify.

But with no more outings planned we look forward to next year .............. or do we? (Back to Top)

9th August at Oldencraig was the big day of the season so far for Vicky and Percy. Finally it was the regional finals and the prospect of qualification for the National Finals at Stoneleigh was that bit closer. Entered into the Restricted Elementary section, the competition featured the best Restricted Elementary dressage horses in the South of England.

Vicky had to do Test 53 from memory (no calling for the regional finals!) and Percy looked like he had so much to give, riding a good test all but for a couple of little imperfections, sadly at this level it's the little imperfections that make the difference. The final score of 62.05% was enough to keep the combination in the top 10 until the last few results came in. It's only the top horses that qualify but the top ten get to take home a rosette, when we left Percy had just been knocked into eleventh place; by 0.4%.

So near and yet so far but good progress and loads more to come. It's off to Speedgate on the 11th August and the opportunity, this time, to qualify for the Winter Regional Finals. (Back to Top)

2nd August at Oldencraig saw Percy put in a good couple of solid performances when he competed in another two Elementary tests just before his Regional Finals on the 9th August. It was difficult for Vicky to warm up properly before his first test, Elementary 43, due to the sheer number of people competing on the day. Despite being faced with some stiff opposition, a score of 65.86% saw the combination finish third in the restricted section

Next up was Elementary Test 53 in the International arena, the same test that Vicky will need to perform at the regional finals. At times Steve, who is getting a lot better at calling, could only just be heard over the piped music but again Percy looked good throughout. Finishing with a score of 63.23% this time he took red, finishing first in the restricted class, second overall. Next is the regional finals and Test 53 once again! (Back to Top)

7th July at Oldencraig: Percy took his next tentative steps towards Affiliated Medium Dressage when he competed in two Medium Tests albeit unaffiliated. First up was Test 71 in the international arena. However, even though he broke in canter he still recorded a respectable 66.12%, finishing second overall. The second test, Test 69, was in the larger 60 x 20 school and although quite daunting in it's movements, Percy looked good throughout scoring a solid 66.36% and once again finishing second overall. Seems we're getting quite good at finishing second at the moment, one small step and it's first!

So with a couple of good scores at Unaffiliated Medium it's only a matter of time (or Elementary qualification points) before Percy is competing at Affiliated Medium on a regular basis - but when that'll only happen when Vicky believes the time is right. (Back to Top)

30th June at Oldencraig was one of the wettest competition days this year so it was lucky Blarney had just the one class. Being the discipline he needs to concentrate on to make sure his eventing season next year is a successful one, he was entered into the Prelim section with Test 17. It was a good solid test and although he only scored 57.08 it seemed the scoring was particularly tough as by the time we left (half way through) he was lying second in the young horse section and fourth overall.

Funniest moment of the day was the appearance of Gloria, our yard chicken, as the ramp was lowered when we got there, seemed she had come along for the ride as 'Blarney's travel mate'. We think she enjoyed the trip but next time we'll check for stowaways before we leave! (Back to Top)

23rd June at Blue Barn Dressage: Percy's second trip out in just over a week. Entered into another two Elementary sections he started this time with Test 50, a very nice test with a stonking score of 74.29% (this time with thirteen 8's!) and first place in his section and first place overall.

The second test of the day was Test 57 although with 5 mins to go it became apparent that it was the 2007 Test 57 and not the 2002 Test 57; and they we completely different!. So with Steve reading the test and Vicky just following instructions it was all a little tense, only right at the end did the 'communication' fail (it was Steve's first time reading!).

Still a respectable score of 65.36% meant that Percy finished second restricted and third overall. So with another set of good percentage marks, Percy moves on to 129 BD points just 20 away from compulsory Medium. (Back to Top)

17th June at Stilebridge Farm: Percy went out to play for only the second time this year. Entered into both Elementary sections he started with Test 48 which went very well indeed (other than the unexpected trip RXV!) with a final score of 70.34% (including five 8's) and second place. He then went on to get his second blue of the day in the final class, scoring 66.88% from a very good looking Test 58. The good percentage marks means Percy scored excellent BD marks and now sits only 30 marks away from moving out of Elementary and into Medium. (Back to Top)

20th May at Mattingley: Blarney's first attempt at the real thing; a fully affiliated BE one day event. Entered into Intro Section S, he started well and scored 43.7 in the dressage, plenty of scope for improvement.

In the show jumping the fences weren't quite as scary as Tweseldown and Blarney cleared the lot - however in a qwerk particular to BSJA rules he was marked down 4 marks for "turning his back on a fence". New one on me and after looking through the BSJA rulebook I'm still at a loss (closest we could get was 'a resistance' rather than the refusal as quoted by the Steward). Vicky has taken this up with BE who are looking into the situation (no progress as of 18th June)

That said, Blarney cleared the cross country perfectly (but scarily!). Sadly he got time faults again which put his final score at 63.3 and a final placing of 23 (he has to learn not to stop half way round for a breather!). (Back to Top)

28th April at Oldencraig: Percy went out to play at Oldencraig in his first dressage outing of the season. Everything was going well in the warm up, all be it a little crowded. This was his first medium dressage test and unfortunately a misunderstanding between B and V meant he finished on a score of 57.75% and in 4th place.

The Vicky/Percy combination then went into the next elementary class, sadly a minor fault dropped them down from 1st to 4th with a score of 63.6%. So now Percy has got his 'feet wet' so to speak, we look forward to his next outing in the very near future. (Back to Top)

21st April at Tweseldown: Blarney's first event, an unaffiliated One Day Event at Tweseldown was a roaring success. Still only a youngster he scored 43 in the dressage section (notching up 3 seven's) and then had three down in the show jumping making a total of 55 penalty points going into the cross country.

Although the first five cross country would have been better seen in a pre-novice event, Blarney cleared the lot finishing on 55 points. Unfortunately and quite inexplicably it seems Blarney was a little slow on the cross country course and incurred 32.4 penalty points as a result (funny though, he caught up with the horse in front of him!). So final score was 87.4, final place was 19th - not bad for your first One Day Event! (Back to Top)