The show jumping arena at Kelecyn, one of the properties where the Tamborine event is held
An Eventful Life is filming all competitors on cross country at
Tamborine Equestrian Group (1) 2020 - find out more here
Okay Queensland, you’ve got me.
I’m a girl that likes a bit of green grass, as little dust as possible and mild weather for eventing and you delivered in bucket loads today at the Motorama Tamborine Equestrian Group One Day Event.
After an absolute deluge last week, the area around Tamborine Mountain, just 30 minutes from the Gold Coast in Queensland is lush, the going at Kelecyn where the event is held is fantastic and the backdrop is stunning
Laura Wallace and ESB Irish Autumn
“People ask me why I travel up here from Sydney” says New Zealand’s Laura Wallace who has brought several horses for the journey north “But the ground is always so good, they take such good care of it, and it’s such an enjoyable event that I wouldn’t miss it. But this year it’s even better with the recent rain”
Laura has one horse, ESB Irish Autumn in the top class, the Motorama CCN3*-S, and their impressive clear round in the large sand show jumping arena means that they hold fifth place on their dressage score of 40 heading into tomorrow’s cross country.
The only other clear jumping round came from another NSW based rider with Jess Somerfield and Lakeview Albion jumping themselves into the lead on their dressage score of 37.2. Like many Australian riders, Jess likes a bit of bling and cheerily advised the dressage judge on presenting that judge that she liked to ‘look sparkly, ride sparkly, feel sparkly all day’. It certainly worked with Jess sparkling her way to the top
Jess Somerfield and Lakeview Albion
Queensland’s Madison Simpson led after the dressage phase on board Tiraumea Sportsman with a score of 30.6 but 16 penalties in the show jumping dropped them down the leader board; her other horse Fairbanks Casino is still in the hunt however, moving up from third after the dressage with just one rail down in second place and very close behind Jess with a score of 37.8
Madison Simpson riding Fairbanks Casino (above) and Matt Gaske with Bellhaven Cumbria (below)
Another Queenslander, Matt Gaske holds third place on Bellhaven Cumbria, the eight-year-old mare that won the CCI3*-S here in July last year and it was a case of third time lucky in the dressage for James Ferrier on board Sidestep.
James was originally eliminated in the dressage on his first horse Sidestep due to errors of course and then was eliminated on his second horse Gyroscope due to an incorrectly fitted flash strap. It was probably a morning that James would like to forget, but all was not lost
It turned out that there was some confusion over which test he should be riding and, after discussion with the Ground Jury, it was agreed that he could re-ride the test on the first horse. James and Sidestep then dropped just one pole in the show jumping, leaving them currently in fourth place (39.7). As they say, never give up hope
James Ferrier and Sidestep
Andrew Cooper, recently re-located from Victoria to Queensland, leads the Cushaven Park CNC2*-S on board Manhattan and is also in second place in the Belrock Equestrian CCN1*-S which is appropriately led by Belrock Nadal, ridden by Dean Morris
We’ll be back at Kelecyn tomorrow for the cross country phases of all classes (and filming all riders) so check back to see how things pan out at beautiful Tamborine …….
Andrew Cooper and Manhattan
