The event season has finally kicked off and is now in full swing. We have an event every weekend now until at least mid June.
March started with the Australian Team camp at Unicorn Trust in the Cotswolds. This was a great few days catching up with fellow grooms and riders. It also proved to be very educational learning off instructors and vets.
The three-day camp began with a day of dressage tests and critiques. That night we brushed up on leg anatomy and common injuries and lameness’ in eventers with a lecture given by Graham Potts the team vet. The second day covered dressage lessons with Gareth Hughes and jumping sessions with Gilbert Bockmann. The dressage lessons were geared towards working on what could have been improved from the tests the previous day. The horses were put through different jumping exercises. The riders also had meetings with the physio and cross country critiques.
The third day was jumping rounds at Rectory Farm and dressage lessons. The three horses, James, Danny and Pea all improved over the three days and are looking set for a big year ahead.
Graf Liberty at squad
The first event was at Aldon, the Friday was the BE100 (British eventing 100cm) and the Novice and the Sunday was the Intermediate. Friday the weather was very foggy, you couldn’t see from one side of the showjump arena to the other, this made walking cross country courses quite difficult. The day was great with first and second ribbons to collect.
The fog at Aldon
The following week we took the ‘big kids’ Pea, James and Danny for an intermediate run at Gatcombe, the home of Princess Anne and Zara Phillips. The weather again proving difficult with a large hail storms passing over us during the day.
The hail at Gatcombe
The third event we have been too was at Goring Heath, this time we were really lucky with the weather and the sun shone for most of the day!
With the event season now in full swing there is less time to head to the local pub and catch up with people. But daylight savings has started and it is staying lighter for longer and it is slowly warming up making the pub seem like the obvious place to go for an after work pimms or cider. With more Aussies due to arrive in the area in just a matter of weeks no doubt we will be lining up at the bar in no time.
The debate for which is the best local pub is still to be decided, I believe there should be a wish list for a pub to be added to the favourite category, they have to be close, have good service and staff, the food has to be better than I could be bothered to cook myself, have a good fireplace in winter and some outdoor seating in summer, it must have my favourite drinks (although none of them stock Bundaberg rum) and all this must be offered with a low budget in mind.
The Sun in Dunsfold is the closest with a lovely spot to sit out the front in the sunshine, very convenient but the food is not so tasty. The Whitehorse is the next closest also offering some lovely outdoor seating and very good cheesy chips but not a lot more on the menu to choose from. They do however have the friendliest and easiest on the eye bar men. This is also the pub that we can hack the horses to, so this adds a major tick on their list.
The next closest are the Seahorse, The Parrot and the Swan all of which are about 20-25 minutes away. They are far fancier than the two local pubs and all have great service and menus however for your normal meal at the pub this is an expensive quick dinner. So we will keep exploring the area and try to find the pub that fits all needs.
Tempranillo loving the mud after cross country at Gatcombe
With entries now closed for Badminton and the accepted list of entries published online along with the wait list. TS Jamaimo has made the accepted list along with 12 other Australians. Although Badminton is still five weeks away you can’t help but get excited to be attending one of the biggest events in the world! We all know that with horses, and especially in a three day event preparation, often things don’t go to plan so one should never get too excited this early in the preparation.
Talking of things going not to plan the news that Tempranillo wouldn’t make the accepted list of entries and she would be placed on the wait list was one of those things. To be accepted to Badminton there is a long list of credentials, horses are ranked based on the FEI points they have received within the last 12 months. They also have to have finished with the top 25% of the field in a CCI3*** competition or the top 50% of a 4*. There is then a rule on top of that which states that if a horse has 20 penalties on a cross country course at one of those events they will not use the FEI points awarded to them. This leaves Pea without her 62 points she received at Pau in October 2013, hence she is so far down the wait list.
There will be 85 combinations competing at Badminton and with another 38 on the wait list it certainly is an event everyone wants to be a part of. With Pea being so far down the list the decision will be made to prepare her for Badminton and hope she gets a run, or prepare her for Saumur CCI3*, France two weeks later of aim her for Luhmuhlen 4* in Germany at the end of June.
This shows a positive and negative of the sport in Australia compared to England. Having a wait list for Adelaide 4* or Sydney or Melbourne CCI3* has never had to occur so there is never an issue getting a run provided you are qualified. However if you or your horse isn’t right for these events then there aren’t as many to choose from to compete at.
That's all for now
Rachel
