7th December at Oldencraig was a one off and bought the
curtain down on Vicky's 2008 season. The event was
'Strictly Come Dressage', an evening competition of
dressage to music in aid of the Emile Faurie Foundation,
a charity that aims to make horse riding more accessible
to under privileged children.
Vicky and Percy were entered into the Pas de Deux
alongside Sue and Jack. After many, many hours of
practice, the main aim from both Vicky's and Sue's
perspective was to have a good time; an excellent result
would be a bonus. Sue had prepared a challenging routine
with music from the musical 'Caberet' and both riders
and horses were dressed appropriately in top hat and
tails, lavishly covered in sequins to make everything
sparkle!
The performance went superbly, the music was right, the
costumes were right, one comment from the judges was
"the best pairing of the night so far", another summed
it up in just one word "classy". Final scores were 9.9,
9.8, 9.4 and 9.7. Vicky and Sue left the arena with the
audience calling for "10.0".
11th October 2008 at Borde Hill was another double day for
Blarney and Percy but this time Vicky was on her own
with just Steve and Arti in tow providing babysitting,
photographic and grooming duties.
On a wonderful sunny day, first up was Blarney in Intro
Section D and dressage Test 100, well his dressage has
been getting a lot better throughout the season and
today was no different with a very respectable score of
35.5. Then it was Percy's turn in Intro Section F, again
dressage Test 100, and it goes without saying, he scored
an excellent 31.5.
Sadly, next it was Blarney and the show jumping, his
dressage has been getting better but his show jumping
has been getting worse. Today was no different, four
down and two time penalties meant Blarney was going into
the cross country with a score of 53.5. An excellent
cross country round meant just 5.6 time penalties and a
final score of 59.1 and 21st place. Not a bad result on
which to end the 2008 Eventing season, some work to do
over the winter but a great prospect for 2009.
As for Percy, but for one down in the show jumping, he
was going strong as normal into the cross country on
just 35.5 penalties. However a stop at fence one and
then another at fence two meant when he stopped at fence
eight Vicky decided it was time to call it a day not
just at Borde Hill but on Percy's Eventing career. His
forte is dressage so he'll be sticking to that in
future; no ditches!
Watch this space for some Winter Dressage for Percy and
in the meantime Blarney's going to do some show jumping.
4th October 2008 at Pulborough saw a change of rider for
Blarney. After Vicky had burnt her foot earlier in the
week, she felt that riding two would be a challenge.
Thankfully Emma stepped into the breach and offered to
ride Blarney in Intro Section B. His dressage was
looking very good until a little lack of focus in the
second canter resulted in a final score of 44.7
penalties.
Two down in the show jumping but a clear round cross
country, albeit with 12.4 time penalties, meant a final
score of 65.1. Not enough for a place but, with driving
rain and a high wind for most of the day, the
combination of Emma and Blarney definitely had an
'interesting' day out.
But it wasn't all about Blarney, Percy was out for his
second event of the season and his first official BE
event; good job he was only in Training Section O.
It
seemed that the weather was going to do it's best to
spoil Vicky's day with torrential rain just as she
started her dressage test; even so, Percy scored only
33.0 penalties! For some reason he had one stop in the
show jumping, apparently he didn't like the fact they
had forgotten to paint the rustic fence so he needed a
quick look before he jumped it.
Even so his score of
37.0 going into the cross country was good enough to
guarantee at least fifth place. Sadly Fence 8 was a
ditch, only 8" wide, but big enough to prevent the
combination from getting to Fence 9; three refusals
meaning instant elimination.
Will he ever sort out his
problem with ditches or will he continue to frustrate
Vicky, so much potential dashed by a hole or two in the
ground. Emma went on to compete Bertie as well, more of
that in the news section.
21st September 2008 at Chilham
Castle was the first time this season both
Percy and Blarney had been out together for a One Day
Event albeit Unaffiliated. Percy was entered into the
Novice section and Blarney in the Intermediate.
First up was Percy, only picking up 29.5 penalties in
the dressage putting him in first place going into the
show jumping. The jumps were hardly challenging but then
this was Percy's first event of the season and he
thought he'd given up getting his feet muddy last year!
Needless to say he put in a faultless performance and
then followed that up with a clear cross country. Vicky
was extremely pleased with first place overall and a
very large shield to go with a nice big red rosette.
Sadly is was a bit like 'after the Lord Mayors show'
with Blarney, rearing up in the lorry before the day had
even started. He went into the dressage very tired after
Vicky had spent a long time working him in and, with
penalties of just 34.0, put in his best performance of
the year so far. Sadly, he then followed that up with
his standard three down in the show jumping and an
inexplicable stop out on the cross country.
So Percy stole the day, Bertie and Tilly made cameo
appearances on the day, not one Bertie would like to
remember but Tilly finished an excellent 12th in the
Intermediate Section after a dressage score of 42.0, one
down in the show jumping and a clear cross country.
31st August 2008 at Munstead
was forecast to be a day of heavy rain, so Vicky
expected a soggy return visit to the course where she
started this season back in March.
But Blarney has been improving greatly recently, the
only sticking point being his performance at show
jumping. So armed with a new bit to aid control and
braking, Vicky had high hopes on the day. Entered into
Intro Section C, the pair opened with 38.4 penalties in
the dressage and followed that with 8 penalties in the
show jumping: still two down but they just looked so
much better than previous outings.
And so into the cross country phase, completed without a
problem. Vicky even overtook the horse in front of her!
We look forward to an even better performance next time
out at Chilham Castle Unaffiliated ODE in September and
Pulborough at the beginning of October.
3rd August 2008 at Chilham
Castle meant a very early start for the
Silverhill Event team of Vicky, Blarney, Uncle Steve,
Daddy Steve and little Arti. Vicky was entered into
Intro Section B and scheduled to be first away at
8.00am.
The dressage test went better than ever with the pair
collecting just 36.5 penalties from Intro Test 101.
However, recently the show jumping has proved to be
Blarney's undoing and, even with a different bit this
time out, so it was to be once again. After refusing at
the first fence Blarney had another three fences down
and collected another 9 time penalties in the process
making 25.0 overall and 51.5 going into the cross
country.
So Vicky was in two minds when she saw the cross country
was just as complicated as Eridge, the pair having
retired there in June. But she decided to give it a go
and Blarney rose to the challenge. A run out at
fence 13 (very tight turn to a skinny brush) was
forgiven; other than that Blarney upped his game on a
difficult course and Vicky was delighted.
With any chance of a rosette gone, the team headed home
to get some sleep!
26th July 2008 at Little
Mattingley was the first time Vicky had
competed at the new British Eventing Training event
class. Entered into Section K2, the fences are a modest
2'9", perfect if you need to get some well needed
experience for a horse like Blarney.
One of the last to go on the day, the dressage (Intro
Test 100) went well with a final score of 37.5, Vicky
was very pleased. It was then almost immediately on to
the show jumping, sadly Blarney was suffering from his
normal problem of no brakes and no steering; different
bit required maybe? Still it meant three fences down and
12 penalty points.
It was then into the cross country and Vicky just let
Blarney go for it, result was a clear round and, for the
first time, the pair were inside the time allowed of
6min 9secs. Final score was 49.5 which was good enough
for 6th place; Blarney's first 'place' at Eventing. And
Vicky was presented with a set of four brushing boots,
an umbrella and no less that two rosettes! Arti was very
proud of Mummy and spent most of the day reading the
programme.
28th June at Eridge
was one of the closest ODE of the season, just the other
side of Tunbridge Wells, and the combination of Vicky
and Blarney who ere entered into Intro Section D were
looking forward to a good day.
With recent work on his dressage, Vicky was surprised
that Blarney scored 42.8 penalties but put into context
the leader was on 39.5 which meant going into the show
jumping the pair were sitting in third place. A better
performance than late in the show jumping, Blarney only
had one fence down plus one time penalty, meant things
were looking positive going into Blarney's strongest
discipline, the cross-country.
However, it was not to be. What could only be described
as a very technical course for Intro level did not suit
the young horse at all (along with many others!). After
a sticky jump at fence 4 (pictured), Blarney flew over
the ditch at 5 missing the second element entirely; plus
Vicky got hit in the face as he jumped. And so, with a
sore head, Vicky took the decision to retire; better
luck next time.
22nd June at Sandhurst Farm
was the first time this year Vicky had taken out both
Percy and Blarney and it was to be a marathon day.
First up it was Blarney trying to improve his dressage
with the ODE at Eridge coming up next week. Entered into
two classes the first was Prelim 4 and, albeit for a
moments distraction, the test was OK. Final score was
62.72% and his third sixth place this year. Next was
Prelim 18 and although the test went without a hitch he
scored a disappointing 60.41%, finishing out of the
rosettes.
Next it was Percy's turn, again entered into two
classes, the first being Elementary and the second a
challenging Medium. The first test was Percy at this
worst, he was soooo naughty. Not surprising he scored a
dreadful 57.2%, finishing fourth out of four! He then
Had to go straight into his Medium test so things were a
little tense. Everything went well until a
misunderstanding regards what was and what was not the
'collective walk' still with a bit of explaining from
the judge everyone was soon back on track, finishing in
first placed overall with score of 62.09% and a small
cup to boot!
14th June at Merrist Wood
was an opportunity for Vicky to gain that all important
second qualifying win for the Summer Regional
Championships; yes, Vicky had thought she had qualified
following her last visit to Merrist Wood but it seems BD
qualification criteria has changed this year.
As such, Vicky and Percy were entered into Elementary 42
by way of a warm up to the qualifier itself, Elementary
50. Unlike last time, the crew arrived in time but Percy
seemed a little off colour. A reasonable test with only
one noticeable error resulted in a score 62.19% which
meant a third in the restricted section and 5th place
overall. An hour later they were in the arena, with
Steve calling the test, having worked in nicely.
However, that's when it all went wrong, breaking into
trot during his medium canter and a number of other
errors meant Percy's chance of winning the class had
gone. Final score was 62.5%, lying in third place as we
left. Very unlike Percy and with only 16 days to get
that second qualifying win, the time is of the essence;
next stop Stilebridge Farm.
1st June at Hickstead
was a big day for Vicky and Percy, having qualified in
April, it was now time for the Unaffiliated South East
Dressage Championships. Competing at Elementary level,
the pair had to do Test 43 in Section 3B (the number of
entries meant the test was split into two sections).
It was a good day and the crew arrived early, Sue Pinks
met us there (she had withdrawn Jack from the same
Championships just two days before due to virus).
Strangely the test arena was next to the warm up area so
the fear was that Percy would be 'distracted'. However,
the test went well although some markers weren't hit 'on
the nail' (not noticed by the judges). Final score was
62.76% although Vicky felt the judging had been harsh
(particularly the second leg yield they said she didn't
do!).
It was the top three in each section that went into a
ride off to find the overall Champion, almost but not
quite, Percy finished 5th; winning a saddle cloth and a
Baileys voucher in the process. A good day out with
everyone now looking forward to the Summer Regional
Finals at OEC in August.
25th May at Borde Hill
marked a very early start for the Vicky and crew with a
surprising change in the recent good weather; it was
pouring!
After the disappointment of Mattingley, Vicky was hoping
for better things this week. Entered in Intro Section C,
she came back from the dressage pleased that it had gone
well. She was therefore very surprised to get a score of
44.0! Next up was the show jumping and Vicky once again
realised that getting Blarney going isn't the problem,
its getting him to stop. Three fences down meant a score
of 56.0 going into the cross country.
As with last week, Blarney ended the day well with a
clear only this time with fewer time penalties giving a
total of 67.4 and 33rd place overall. So overall a
result not that different from Mattingley but this time
Vicky felt a lot more positive, better feel at dressage,
better run in the cross country. Maybe the pair are now
getting 'fit for the job'; we'll have to see at Eridge
on the 28th June.
18th
May at Mattingley can only be described as
a dull day for Vicky and Blarney. The weather was great
but it was an early start with the prospect of a very
late finish. With animals and a full compliment of
children on board it was always going to be hard for
Vicky to focus on the Eventing side.
Entered into Intro Section T, she started by getting her
dressage times mixed up and warmed up Blarney way before
the proper time and, with his head firmly fixed on
getting back to the lorry, the pair ended up with a
disappointing score of 43.5. Next came the show jumping,
sadly it was not going to get any better, three down
meant 12 faults and an overall score of 55.5 going into
the cross country. The one bright point of the day was a
clear at cross country, albeit with 24 or so time
penalties.
So with time marching on and the prospect of 80+ points
(in fact the final score was 79.0 and 25th place), it
was time to go home and look forward to something a lot
better next weekend and Borde Hill.
3rd May at Merrist Wood
saw witness to an excellent day for Vicky and Percy. The
combination were entered into two classes, Elementary 42
and Elementary 50, on the basis that a win in the
qualifier would see them take a step towards
qualification for the Summer Regional Finals later this
year.
Although things did not go smoothly on the journey there
what with an accident on the M25 slip road for the A3
and wrong directions, the team arrived with just 20mins
to get tacked up and warmed up for the first test, E50.
However, even with all the stress, the pair scored an
excellent 69.29% although there were a fair number in
the class and so it was a two hour wait to see how well
they had done. As it was they finished first in the
restricted section and third overall plus it was the
third highest score of the day!
The E42 test was due just 25mins after E50 but with the
pair now firmly in groove and with Steve calling, the
test went well and the pair scored a respectable 66.88%.
The score put them them in first place in the restricted
section, giving them two wins on the days (in fact they
were joint first overall, taking the prize money on
collective score!).
19th
April at Tweseldown was to be a
disappointing day for Vicky and Blarney who were
scheduled to compete in the Unaffiliated Intro Section.
Also competing in the same section were Emma and Bertie
(more about them in the news section) and Jemima came
along to groom for the day; not long before she'll be
competing herself!
When the gang arrived it was obvious things were not
going to be easy, the weather was dull and miserable and
the ground was horrendous with deep mud that caked the
colourful show jumps. However, after his recent good
work at dressage, Blarney managed a respectable 38.5%
although, if he'd been less distracted, it could have
been even better. It was when he started to knock over
every fence in the warm up before the show jumping (he
just couldn't pick his feet up out of the mud) that
Vicky decided enough was enough and withdrew him from
the event; "it's just not worth spoiling everything this
early in the season, especially with such a young
horse".
5th
April at Oldencraig Equestrian Centre was
Percy's first trip out this season and it couldn't start
with a bigger challenge, Medium 69. That said both the
Medium 69 test and the one that followed, Elementary 43,
were both unaffiliated so even if things did go wrong it
was going to be too bad.
As it was things went pretty well for the combination
and Percy was looking good in the first test until Vicky
had a "half pass or not to half pass moment". Sadly it
dropped them to 64.54% and 5th place, still not bad for
first test of the year and a Medium to boot!
Next up was the Elementary test and, with Steve calling,
the test went very well indeed. Final score was a pretty
good 67.24% and enough for 1st place and qualification
for the OEC Winter Championships plus qualification for
Hickstead at the end of May!
2nd
April at Sandhurst Farm gave the
combination of Vicky and Blarney an opportunity to
practice that all important dressage element of One Day
Eventing. Entered into Prelim 13 and Prelim 14 dressage
tests Vicky hoped for the best.
A solid test in Prelim 13 meant they finished on a score
of 58.8% which was good enough to see them finish in 5th
place, Blarney's first ever dressage rosette. Bertie and
Emma from the yard went along with Vicky and had the
dubious pleasure of finishing one better in fourth
place.
So it was all going well into Prelim 14 and it started
well, however when Vicky asked for canter it was met
with a buck. Overall though the test went well with a
final score of 60%+, giving Blarney sixth place and his
second ever dressage rosette. Bertie and Emma were
seventh. Next stop the ODE at Tweseldown on the 19th,
good things to come.
21st
March at Munstead
saw a chilly start to the 2008 season for both Vicky and
Blarney. After a long break for the birth of son Arthur, it
was always going to be a test to see how well the
combination could bounce back onto the Eventing circuit.
Entered into Intro Section D, Blarney proved he had made
good progress at dressage during his time off with an
opening score of 40.5. He then went into the show jumping
and went clear.
And then it was on to the real test of stamina, the cross
country. All was going well until the pair ran out of steam
at fence 14, it was to be the only hiccup. Net result was
60.5 plus time faults to be added.
It was good to see them out again and it's only 4 weeks
until Tweseldown when they'll be out again!
It
seemed that the weather was going to do it's best to
spoil Vicky's day with torrential rain just as she
started her dressage test; even so, Percy scored only
33.0 penalties! For some reason he had one stop in the
show jumping, apparently he didn't like the fact they
had forgotten to paint the rustic fence so he needed a
quick look before he jumped it.
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