An Eventful Life filmed all competitors on cross country at
Oasby (1) 2020 – order or view videos here
Three well-known names took prizes in the some of the BE100 classes at Oasby (1) but it was the less well-known who had some great stories to tell, from poo-filled boots to broken down lorries and recovering from shattered ankles
The Section T1 was won by Sam Ecroyd on his own Rastaman, Izzy Taylor took the win in Section T2 on Junior Z, owned by Alex C Phillips, and Richard P Jones won Section T3 on Financial Express, owned by Dinah Saunders and Trefor Jones.
Katie Stephens-Grandy won the BE100 Section E2 on her own homebred Mr Music who is qualified for the Science Supplements Cup at Badminton 2020 so the win at Oasby was a real boost.
“He’s still very green at this level as he’d done his first BE100 then I had an accident two years ago and shattered my leg and ankle into 29 pieces. Thanks to my trainer Chris McGrann, the Jockeys Rehab at Jackberry House, and some fairly intensively stubbornness and focus from me, we are finally back to competing but still re-building”
“This was only Mr Music’s second BE100 since my accident and he is still very green at this level. I’m absolutely delighted with him as we have really focused on submission and balance in winter training and I hope it’s finally coming together. He felt superb and gave me a great feel”
“Trendy Magic Touch unfortunately missed a win in the BE100 as he was spooked by the photographer in the show jumping - a real shame as he had a fright so we took out a pole then decided to have a confidence re-building cross country run but he still came ninth. He’s a quirky horse at the best of times and didn’t need the fright but with every experience we grow stronger!”
“Rathcline Kestrel and Belview Bobby are brothers both by the Connemara stallion Gwennic de Goarvia and both started their education with my husband’s cousin Kate Rath Doyle in Ireland then came to me as five-year-olds. It was Rathcline Kestrel’s first ever BE90 and he only had some time on cross country; the course was a super track to build confidence and he loved it. He’s a very spooky little horse but has such a big character.
“Belview Bobby is also qualified for the Science Supplements Cup at Badminton; he was rather fresh in the dressage at Oasby and decided to do a fire breathing dragon impression for his first time on grass this year, but then settled down and popped round the show jumping and double clear cross country for third place”
“A huge thank you to all the team at Oasby for all the incredible work they did on the courses and the ground to enable riders to have a super weekend”
Sarah Turner won the BE100 Open Section F1 on Ryehill Princess, owned by Jocelyn Finnigan and Section F2 was won by James Sommerville riding Gabbana owned by Joanne Ford. James also took second place in this section on his own Global Ask and won the Intermediate Section K on Edison NJ, owned by Carole Dennis.
“The two days started quite badly to be honest with the lorry breaking down en route” James told us “Thankfully I was rescued by some very helpful owners, who collected me, three horses and a load of kit from the side of the road.”
“I was thrilled with the way all my horses went for their first run and first trip off the yard this season. Edison NJ show jumped really well and I was thrilled as he had only been in the yard for five days at that point. Talent and Altaskin Jack had gentle runs round the Open Intermediate and have bigger and better things to aim for in Badminton (for Talent) and Bramham (for Altaskin Jack). Global Ask finished second in the BE100 Open to Gabbana and Kilcannon Dragon Fly was 10th in the BE100”
“Both Global Ask and Kilcannon Dragon Fly suffered from the lorry breakdown as Global Ask was scheduled to run in the Novice. Thankfully the organisers were very accommodating in slotting Global Ask into the BE100, however this meant my dressage times were 24 minutes apart, so we had very little time to warm up”
“I thought the ground and the courses were great and the ground excellent considering the recent weather. It was a fantastic event”
Constance Copestake, who is part of the Windrush Foundation Young Eventers Programme 2020, won BE100 Section G1 on her own Challenge Z.
“I was so thrilled with how Oasby went. The horse I rode at Oasby (Challenge Z or ‘William’ as affectionately known as at home) is a seven-year-old Zangersheide that I’ve had since September last year. He was actually a swap!”
“William’s old owner Susanna Lye (who we have known for years as she bought my old event pony for her daughter Zara) was looking to sell him as Zara wanted to go travelling after A ‘levels. She originally offered William to us, but I needed to sell one of my own before thinking about buying another. Susanna then asked who I was thinking of selling. I had a lovely young horse called Ibantos who had hunted/evented/showjumped and I thought he would make a lovely grassroots/all rounder for someone. It turns out that she was looking for a horse exactly like that for herself, and jokingly said ‘well why don’t we do a swap?’, which is what we ended up doing. We tried each other’s horses at the same time, then got them vetted together and ended up taking home different horses - it has worked so well!”
“William is such a talented young horse and I’m so excited for his future. We started our season well with a win at Oasby and hopefully in a couple of outings he will upgrade to Novice. Susanna has been flying round with Ibantos, hunting all winter. They had their first event together at Poplar Park (same weekend at Oasby) where they did a super double clear - a good weekend all round”
The BE100 Section G2 was won by Abigail Unwin on Eden III, owned by her best friend Sophie Edwards who had a baby last year and asked Abigail to take the ride this year. Their main aim was to qualify for the Science Supplements Cup at Badminton which they’ve achieved for both the BE90 and the BE100 classes. Eden III is nicknamed “the creature”, because she has some interesting behavioural habits, but she still managed a win, despite being unclipped and studless!
The two BE100 Open Under 18 V1 and V2 Sections were won by Archie Smith-Maxwell on Akolien, owned by Judy Bradwell, and Jemima Snipe on Cotterstown Magic, owned by Jane Snipe (watch their winning ride here)
Stella Bunn took the win in the BE100 Open Section W on her own Renkum Capitano, who is also quite the dressage star
“He was at the British Dressage Regional Finals on Friday and Saturday finishing eighth in the Elementary and second in the Novice to qualify for the NAF BD National Winter Champs! He’s such a star, I bought him from the breeder as an unbroken three-year-old. We had an eventful time at Oasby, having initially withdrawn both horses but then being allowed to run, and Hugo the border collie lorry guard dog having liquid diarrhoea into my best Ariat trainers!”
It turned out that its lucky to stand in poo and even luckier to fill your boots with it
“I finished the day with a visit to Tiggers Saddlery to buy some more Ariat trainers so I could drive the lorry home!”
Stella would like to dedicate her win to Beccy Amos, a young eventing rider who she coached for many years, who sadly lost her battle with cancer aged 26. Beccy’s funeral was the Friday of Oasby and Stella says she was a beautiful person both inside and out. Our heartfelt thoughts go out to Beccy’s family and friends.
More to come from the BE100 Regional Final winners at Oasby (1) ......
Read our Intermediate/Novice report from Oasby (1) here
Article by Jess Johnson
