More sunshine = more eventing...Dan on the gallops at home.
This is possibly the happiest blog I have written in a while – because we got to eventing this month! It has managed not to seriously rain (if I said it hadn’t rained at all I would be telling big fibs), snow, howl a gale or flood in the last month, which has meant plenty of happy riders.
None more so than myself, because being allowed to go back eventing on August 25th was how I imagine being let out of prison would feel. I was over organised and over excited heading off to a BE100 (pre-novice equivalent) on Gus, who I have never before ridden at a competition.
Those of you who know me well, know that I am a total control freak. I like to know exactly where I am going, how I am getting there and how long it will take down to 1/20th of a second. So the fact that I am currently going to events without a clue where I am going, and am blindly following the satnav is something of an achievement in itself. So far (touch wood) we have managed not to get seriously lost on our way anywhere in England. I say so far because when we went to Tattersalls in June we had a serious miscommunication with our satnav and ended up in a housing estate in the back of Dublin … and got a police escort out to the main road. I blame the very odd Irish signposts.
Gus getting very good at being British and standing on the truck at shows!
Anyway, back to Milton Keynes. Gus was a very good boy at our first event together – the dressage needs a bit of polish but he jumped a nice double clear with just 1.6 of a time fault cross country and finished up 8th. You aren’t allowed to wear a watch in BE100, which is a bit foreign to me though it does get you very good at judging your rhythm to make the time!
Dan meanwhile in the BE90 was totally overwhelmed by the coloured horses warming up for dressage – apparently they are definitely cows – but he was ok in the arena. He managed to chill himself out sufficiently to jump a nice showjumping round but unluckily just touched the last fence hard enough for it to fall. He then proceeded to be fabulous cross country with only one baby moment at a big double of angled tyres which he couldn’t quite get his head around but happily popped over the second time. Pats for Dan, who hadn’t been out since February at his first horse trials and now, in August, thos was at his second.
Because I have missed a fair chunk of the season, I have entered what I think is a large number of events in a short space of time in an attempt to resurrect my somewhat poxy 2012. So last weekend we headed off to a lovely event called Goring Heath in Oxfordshire. I got a hilarious text from Mum on the Saturday before I left saying “the Burghley Direct entries website says don’t follow your satnav, follow the Goring Heath Horse Trials signs”. This being well and good provided one knew how to actually get to Goring Heath! However, another victory for the satnav – I look at it like a test – the more times it gets me to the correct place, the more I trust it. And yes, I followed the signs from the main road.
Scrumpy (the puppy's) first driving lesson with Daddy Blyth
So we turned up with Dan on the Saturday for his BE100 debut where he did a beautiful test to be 4th after dressage, then had two green fences down in the show jumping, which were forgivable in my book and then tackled the biggest BE100 cross country I have EVER seen in my entire life. I couldn’t have been prouder of him, despite having a look at the skinny into the water and picking up a 20, but the further he went, the better he jumped. He is like riding a Rolls Royce cross country, just gallops and jumps, and I have probably bored everyone to death telling them how much I love riding him in the last week and will probably continue to do so.
I entered Gus in the Open Novice on the Sunday, which in part went to plan. He did a decidedly average test – there were some good bits, interrupted by “I am terrified of the no side arena corners” bits, which made for some communication issues. He show jumped nicely and was a total genius cross country until I had a muppet moment at the second to last fence which was a apex to skinny combination.
In the time that I owned Sugoi and Hands Down, I rode very few truly green horses – even the pre novice horses were somewhat experienced – and it has honestly made me a bit lazy! And whilst Gus is not green, he is not Sugoi, who you could turn on a dime and fling at a fence with two straight strides and jump it. So I came motoring around the corner, flung him at the apex, which he jumped and then swung him around the turn far too quickly and he ran out of room at the house. You could see the bubble coming out of his head “what kind of ride do you call that, stupid human?” and he very politely stopped. I was so annoyed with myself for stuffing it up because he been truly brilliant up until that point.
However, there are so many events coming up that I have another 6 chances to fix it before the season has finished. So many actually, that I have to keep checking the calendar and bdwp.co.uk to remember what events I’m going to and when. It’s a bit of a luxury.
The beautiful Stan - a dressage horse that I am sometimes lucky enough to be hair stylist for.
Until my next report, which hopefully will be as positive (we have four events in the next two weeks so plenty to write about), happy eventing in Australia. I am a bit sad I won’t make it to Adelaide to spectate this year but I need to stay here and go to some dressage shows and improve my circle work!
PS. We have two lovely colts for sale at home, both by Statford Neo out of nice TB mares, should mature 16.2hh, well handled, feet regularly done, good movers. The older one jumped out of my 3 rail high stockyards at 9 days old! If anyone is interested in buying a nice young horse give my wonderful father – Glenn – a call on 0437635317. I really need to sell them because I really need some more money … the story of every eventers life!
