Dorothea Mackellar certainly got it right when she said Australia was a land of “droughts and flooding rains”. Whilst the Sydney @SIEC Summer ODE in NSW was squelching in mud, the Geelong Horse Trials in Victoria was run under hot conditions in a definitely “sunburned country”
Held at the Barwonleigh property, this area of Victoria has had less than 7mm of rain since Christmas resulting in, understandably, hard ground. The organisers shortened all of the cross country courses in view of the hard going and, although the temperature was only about 34 degrees (our European readers may be somewhat bemused by that – it would probably be considered a heatwave there!), it seemed much hotter on the wide open river flats.
If the weather was warm, so too was the reception for our video crew who were filming every cross country round on the Ewan Kellett designed course which runs along the banks of the Barwon and Leigh rivers. The central hub of the event is the old bluestone building (originally used for housing the sheep shearers) which now serves as offices for the scorers and administration. Outside in the small Trade Village the gelati stand was doing a brisk trade as people came to view the scoreboard while inside you could always make a quick cup of tea on the old range!
But enough of the catering - let's look at the action. The main class of the event was the CNC 1*, won by Amanda Ross riding Michelle Clough’s William Wordsworth (below), finishing on her dressage score of 37.5.
The cross country course certainly tested many riders with nine combinations eliminated or retiring on course. The main problems occurred at the bank drop to an arrowhead brush at 10A,B,C as did the two skinny uprights on a curve in a wide open paddock at 16A,B and a brush with ditch at 12.
Teil Hodson off the bank at Fence 10B ........
.............. and Sophie Fox out over 10C ....................
............. while Jacqueline Sayers makes 16B look easy
With many people walking their horses home it was interesting to see the different reactions; one poor girl sobbed all the way home (unfortunately a wide open paddock carries the sound quite effectively) whilst others shrugged their shoulders and wondered how they would work on that problem before the next event.
There were two sections in the Pre-Novice; Section A was won by Linda Williams and Linbil White Russian who was also 8th in the Section B on the stallion Grand Farnese
Shannon Cattlin won the Section B on Jaybee Carillion – I caught up with Shannon as she headed back to her truck after cross country and found out more about her horses – that interview coming up soon.
Kylie Pedder won the Preliminary A on Aris Amerigo, despite adding one show jumping rail to her dressage score of 36.10 (Kylie is a pretty handy dressage rider too), she stayed ahead of Sarah Biggs who finished just 0.8 behind her.
Kerrie Bowman and Fourwind Funky Chick finished second in the Prelim B
Experienced eventer Catherine Davies took the Preliminary B on Queens Park Hercules while Tracey Savage on Boots an All won the Intro A, Natalie Davies on Hazelwood Don Cielo won the Intro B and Lucy Kolomanski riding Misty Isle Caprice the Intro C.
The event also hosted a Pony Club Victoria Grade One class in conjunction with Barwon Valley Pony Club which was won by Lucy Gunn on Raymond K.
Each of the class winners’ cross country videos will be uploaded soon so be sure to check out their cross country style at every fence on the Geelong Horse Trials course. Cross country videos for all other riders can be ordered here and will be uploaded here for viewing
The cross country course winds along the junction of the Barwon and Leigh rivers
