28th November at Sandhurst Farm
saw the crew out competing for the first time since August. With the eventing season long over, it was Percy's time to take
the stage.
Having suffered from a virus for much of the season, Percy's outings have been very limited this year so it was nice to see
him doing what he does best. Although he has not been competing, Vicky has kept him on his toes at home and had no hesitation
in entering him for the Elementary 48 and Medium 61 test.
Things seemed a little sticky for the Elementary test and the judges scores reflected that, 64.4% securing 3rd place overall. However,
that test turned out to be the warm up for the main act. Percy showed everyone he still has what it takes with a nice solid Medium
test that featured some very smooth trot movements. Final score of 67.2% meant that the pair took home 1st place overall.
Next up is Strictly Come Dressage on the 6th December with Sue, lets hope they go one better than last year and win it this time round!
9th August at Chilham Castle
meant, that with two successful outings under their belt, Vicky and Blarney could make it a hat trick.
It was a very, very early start for a Sunday and when the team got to Chilham there was still fog hanging over the
fields. However, it meant Vicky had plenty of time to walk the cross country course and then the sun came out!
Entered into BE90 Section A, the pair had a disappointing dressage test; a flock of nearby sheep distracting Blarney
midway throught the test. Final score was 46.5. However, it turned out that the scoring for everyone was particularly
severe with only a handful scoring below 40!
And so the pair headed for the show jumping and an otherwise good round was spoilt by two unlucky fences down,
just taps, on another day they might well have stayed up!
However, on the cross country coming into fence 14 Vicky decided to take it and fence 15 (with a brush on top) as a double, end result was a stop; it seems Blarney has not quite got over his disaster at Tweseldown where he had a similar combination. There followed another stop and plenty of time penalties.
It was only when everyone returned to the lorry that Vicky noticed a very large lump on Blarneys shoulder, that could explain a lot of things. Hopefully a couple of weeks off will sort that out.
2nd August at Little Mattingley
was the first opportunity to see if the double clear posted by Vicky and Blarney at Brightling was a fluke or the
start of good things to come.
It was a long jounrey there but the team arrived with plenty of time to spare. Entered into BE90 Section S, Vicky and
Blarney's first test was the dressage and Test 92. A fortnight ago the score was 38.5 but with a proper warm up this
time round, the pair scored a decent 34.0 penalties.
Next was the moment of truth and as the crowd held its breath (well Steve, Steve and Arti!) the pair jumped every
fence perfectly; a clear round. Its a new feeling for Vicky, pressure to make sure she goes clear cross country, but
with lots of encouragement for both horse and rider, she posted ANOTHER double clear.
Once maybe a fluke, twice maybe just good fortune; simply can't wait to see what happens next week at Chilham Caste.
18th July at Brightling
was Vicky's opportunity to continue the progress being made with Blarney recently.
Time was very tight indeed, Steve arrived back from the USA at 7.00am and had to drive down to Brightling to
take over Arti duty in time for Vicky and Blarney to get to their dressage at 9.50am. Steve arrived with only minutes to
spare and the pair headed immediately for the dressage area (which was miles away!). Entered into BE90 Section A, on
arrival they were sent straight in to do the test, so on reflection a score of 38.5 wasn't bad at all.
It was then on to the show jumping, things were better last week but this week they went event better. With her heart in
her mouth over every jump, the pair posted a CLEAR round! And so it was on to the cross country next and the spectre of
last week loomed ominously. But this time round the pair flew round the course with determination, finishing with just
1.2 time penalties to add making a final score of 39.7 AND 10th place overall.
Needless to say, after their first double clear of the season, EVERYONE was delighted and looking forward to next time
out at Little Mattingley.
11th July at Tweseldown
was the third time Vicky and Blarney had been to Tweseldown, in fact the first time Blarney went out eventing was here
back in 2007; that time he had three down showjumping, a similar score this time round would be brilliant considering
the season so far!
 |
|
The pair demolish fence 7b; Vicky proudly managed to stay on!
|
With the rain holding off, the pair starting the show jumping well, the top plank at fence 4 fell, we all held our breath. Tension grew with each fence jumped and then with a massive effort the final fence was cleared, 4 faults plus one time penalty to add; it felt like they had won!
But there was still the cross country to go, the rain came down in floods and Blarney quite uncharactistically had three stops and a run out; so sadly elimination. That said, it was smiles all the way home, with dressage getting better all the time and show jumping, although not completely sorted, at least on the way. Combine that with Blarney's normal cross country performance and everyone is looking forward to next weekend at Brightling.
4th July at Eridge
saw Blarney out eventing once again, and after some hard work at home (and good progress) there was great hope that he
had conquered his show jumping nemesis.
Entered into BE 90 Section F on one of the hottest days of the year so far, Vicky was well prepared for the dressage, doing
the same test she did at Rackham. Having been given permission to ride with out her jacket, the combination were very relaxed
and, but for one momentary, the test went well and they finished with a score of 36.0 penalties.
Vicky had already decided that she would not go cross country if she had a bad show jumping round, the ground was too hard and the
weather just too hot. So the stage was set, Blarney with his new 'pads' and Vicky with some top tips, for a change from the past.
Sadly it was not to be, five fences and a refusal put paid to cross country but did make for an early trip home.
Tweseldown next, second of four in a row, lets hope the new tactics start to kick in sooner rather than later!
20th June at Speedgate
was an opportunity for Percy to strut his stuff once again. With times very late in the day, Vicky and Percy
were faced with Medium 69 and 73, following on from the decision at the start of the season to concentrate
on Medium with a view to Advanced Medium later in the year.
With close friend Steve calling the test, Medium 69 looked very nice and, but for an error late in the test, the
pair would have won the class. The two point penalty dropping them to second place with 62.42%.
Next up was Medium 73 and once again the test looked good but another error, circling at H and not C, meant a final
score of 61.76% and third place in the Restricted section.
With all that is going on with Blarney right now, Vicky is struggling to find Percy his next outing, late August would
be a good bet!
13th June at Rackham
was the third time out in as many weeks for Vicky and Blarney. Entered into the BE90 Section A, this was the first time
Rackham had put on a Horse Trails.
After the last two outings and lots of practice at home with tents and brollies, Vicky was hoping that Blarney's
show jumping would show some improvment this time out. Well the good news is that Blarney scored his best dressage
result to date and he did go cross country clear but the bad news was a dismal score of 26 in the show jumping; not an
improvment but the worst score to date!
In fact had it not been for a slip on his first turn at dressage, Blarney would have scored a sub 30 dressage score, as it
it was dead on 30 plus 2.8 time penalties cross country. If we finished there then 7th place would have been his but the show
jumping dropped him to 18th; still his best place of the season.
More practice, more advice and maybe a different approach to show jumping next time out!
30th May at Borde Hill
was Blarneys second time out in a week and everyone hoped the work Vicky had put in during
the week on his show jumping whould produce results.
It was a very early start for the family with Vicky's dressage test due to kick off at 9.00am! Entered into
BE90 Section A, the pair came away with a respectable 38.0 penalties, putting them, once again,
in a great position going into the show jumping.
Fence one; OK, Fence Two; OK, Fence Three; OK, Fence Four; scary, crash, bang, wallop. And there on continued a familiar
story, three fences down and 12 penalties to add.
This time Vicky did go cross country and, although lots and lots of people were having problems, Blarney did Vicky
proud and went clear (although according to Vicky he did take some getting round!). Only 5.6 time penalites to add
and a respectable 19th place overall. What could it have been with a double clear!
28th May at Oldencraig
was Percy's first time out this season and it was no gentle start; Vicky had entered him into two medium dressage
tests.
Out on her own for the day, first up was Medium Test 64. Unfortunately Vicky had noted that the judge was not one
of her (or Percy's) biggest fans. As Vicky said "it wasn't brilliant but it was OK", sadly both Vicky and the judge
missed one element of the test (how does that work!). Once they had sorted out the score and penalties, Percy finished
with a score of 60.0% and 3rd place.
Next up was Medium Test 75, and with Jemimia calling, the test went well. Strangley even though Vicky felt it was the
better test of the two, the same judge as before marked her down to 56.2%, finishing fourth. Let's how we don't
get a "judge with a grudge" next time!
23rd May at Mattingley
was Blarneys first one day event of the season and the first of three
in a space of just 21days.
Faced with a very long wait between dressage and show jumping, the crew got there
reasonably early for a Bank Holiday weekend. Dressage went well, in fact very well,
Blarney posting his best ever dressage score of 32.5 penalties.
But last year the problem was show jumping but this time round Vicky thought she had found
the answer and went out to ride 'spurless'. Sadly the concentration problems Blarney had
last year re-surfaced and one refusal, three fences plus time penalties dropped the pair out
of contention.
As such, Vicky decided the best option was to withdraw: Blarney doesn't have a problem
going cross country but the pair were so off the pace there just didn't seem much point.
3rd April at Felbridge
was a great opportunity for Vicky and Blarney to get some well needed jumping
practice before the beginning the eventing season in earnest come May.
Having just registered Blarney for the season, Felbridge was running a 'clear round' jumping
morning so both Vicky and Kate, with Ryan, decided to go along and get some practice.
Overall both did well, it wasn't about getting a clear round or the number of fences down, but for Blarney this
was all about getting him used to riding with an audience and maybe learning a bit about
getting the best out of him over the show jumps.
Either way, both pairs had more than a few goes at 2' 8" and at 3' 0", getting better all the time.
And then before loading up and going home, Vicky had one crack at 3' 4". A couple down but a good round
never the less.
Now let's hope we see an improvment out eventing!
22nd March at Hadlow College
turned out to be a very strange and surprising day. Hadlow college
is just 10mins from the yard so Vicky decided to take both Percy and
Blarney when they announced they had a Combination Training day.
Blarney as he needs the practice at both dressage and show jumping
and Percy for a bit of fun.
Both were entered into the same class and first up was Blarney doing
a Novice 28 test. With the show jumping going on next door there was
plenty of distraction but he turned in a decent score of 66.6.
However, this was his first time jumping indoors so Vicky expected
the worst. However, it was just one fence down and one stop, better
than normal but dropping him out of the reckoning.
And now for the surprise, although Percy only had one stop in the
jumping the dressage judge gave him a lower score than Blarney;
65.8%, and Vicky thought he had a decent test.
The only assumption is the judge must have been on drugs for Percy's
test, but then it was just a bit of fun!
21st February at Sandhurst Farm
was another step in preparing Blarney for that key element of
eventing, the dressage; a good score at dressage can mean the
difference between a placing and nowhere.
Again Vicky had entered him into two Prelim classes, Prelim 13 and Prelim 19, both
simple enough tests but with some awkward twists. First up was Prelim 13 and, with
Steve calling, Blarney turned in a bright display scoring a very respectable 64.5%
and 9th spot overall.
Shortly after it was Prelim 19, again with Steve calling and with Sue Pinks in attendance
filming everything for later analysis. However, the team had to leave before the
results came through so watch this space for an update later in the week.
24th January at Sandhurst Farm
saw the start of the 2009 season for Vicky
and Blarney and, just like last year, it was the first opportunity
for Blarney to work on his dressage for the forthcoming eventing
season.
First up was Prelim 14 and, with Blarney getting to grips with
competing once again, there were a few antics before Vicky bought
things under control. End result was a score of 54.6% leaving the
pair well, well down the pecking order.
It wasn't long before they were back strutting their stuff again,
this time on a full 60m x 40m arena and doing Prelim 19 test. Things were far more
calm and they turned in a solid test finishing with a respectable
61.4% and a placing of 7th overall.
The pair are back on the 21st February for a little more practice;
now to start work on that show jumping!
