I headed to Hickstead to fulfil a long held ambition – to jump the famous Hickstead Derby Bank but first I had to qualify in the Speed Derby Qualifier in Arena 2 where we were 24th out of 60 with the top 25 qualifying. That qualified us for Saturday's Speed Derby so I had a Plan B if things went pear-shaped in Friday's Derby Trial where the top 35 qualify for the Derby on Sunday.
This was Koyuna Sun Set's first international show since the Linz Nations Cup/Australian selection trial for the London Olympics in May 2012 and she certainly stepped up! She jumped a super round in the Derby Trial clear all the way until the last when I cut out a stride going up the hill and let her get a bit long and flat. She qualified easily being 17th out of 63.
I was really happy with her in the actual Derby as she was giving her all...she just got a little too exuberant coming up the bank and really over jumped the fence on top of the bank despite getting a nice deep spot to it.
She then launched herself over the lip of the bank before realising how steep it actually was then had to splay her legs and drop to her belly to slow herself down!
I was in trouble then in that I had done the event rider bit by slipping my rein and sitting back which then left me no other option but to kick when we launched off the bank as I had no way of retrieving any contact with her mouth. She certainly gave the 1.60m vertical at the bottom of the Bank a go but was running way underneath it and had to chip to give herself any chance of clearing it.
The chip popped me out the front door...bugger! Oh well, always next year...
I also took Koyuna Sun Dancer (1.25m classes and 1.25m Derby) aka the only double at Badminton 2014 and probably will go down in Badminton Horse Trials history as the only horse to ever be the only double clear at a Badminton (must do some research on that when I have a spare minute....in my next life!)
I also had a cute little mare that I am producing to sell in the 1.10m and Novice Derby.
Dancer ran 5th in a 1.25m class. He was one of 11 clears out of 60 starters in the first round of the 1.25m Derby but unfortunately we couldn’t make the next round as I had the main Derby course to walk at 10:30am after jumping clear in the first round at 9am
It was my last competition with Dancer as he has now been sold to a rider from Qatar to campaign towards the Asian Games in Korea from Sept 24-28 and heads to a new home while my husband Nigel and I are enjoying a little break and say hi to everyone from Spain!
