An Eventful Life filmed all competitors on cross country at
Horseheath (2) - find out more here
Horseheath Horse Trials organisers used two million litres of water to prepare the ground at their second British Eventing fixture of the year this weekend and then the high winds threatened to blow us all away.
The organisers tied everything down (including the loos!) and succeeded in hosting another friendly, well-run event, with their usual bountiful prizes and great social media presence.
Hang on to your hats and line rope the loos!
The BE100 Section A was won by Melissa Joannides on her own Hay Josephine, with a score of 25.8 in the dressage giving them enough wiggle room to roll a pole in the show jumping phase and still win the section
“I’m a professional event rider based in Ashurst, West Sussex” Melissa told us “I have been eventing for nine years and am gradually building my string of horses - like most event riders, always trying to look for more rides where possible! At the moment my string ranges from BE90 to 3*”
“This weekend at Horseheath I had a win in the BE100 aboard my boyfriend’s hunter ‘Hay Josephine’. He bought her about five years ago now, and I said to him he had to get something nice enough that I would enjoy riding everyday but safe enough for him (as he was a very novice rider then) and his request was something fast that would jump hedges! So we ended up with Joss who is a chestnut thoroughbred mare! She is the perfect all-rounder and ticks every box for what we wanted. I found her so nice I told him I wanted to event her... she won her first ever event and so she became my eventer in the summer and his hunter in the winter. She finds the show jumping more tricky but jumps everything cross country”
“My second ride was on Rhona Sim’s ‘Golly Gosh’ who was competing in his first BE105. He has been with me since January and I have been having a lot of fun riding this super pony. He does a lovely dressage, this week scoring 23.3 and is very bold jumping. He made nothing of the bigger, more technical track and ended up second”
Melissa also won the BE90 Section K on ‘Woodfield Gold’ owned by Melanie Gatt “He has been with me about two months in order to kick start his BE career. He has now done three BE90 Open classes, and this is the second one he has won in a row, with a fifth in his first start. Although relatively green, he acts like a total pro and makes my job very easy. Scoring best dressage of 24.8 and a double clear left him over eight marks clear of second. We will now have a go at moving him up to BE100”
Golly Gosh and Woodfield Gold mark the sixth and seventh duns that Melanie has competed at BE events so gold is obviously a very popular colour!
“We absolutely love Horseheath. I just want to say how lovely everybody is and what a fun and friendly atmosphere it always has. It is a compact site and the ground is always well prepared. Not to mention the amazing prizes they have on offer for all levels as well as prize money. I would also like to thank An Eventful Life for the cross country video!” (watch Melissa and Hay Josephine here)
Jessica McCaldin and Stambrook Messiah in the BE80T
22-year-old Naomi Lawrence from Buckinghamshire won BE100 Section B on her own Jaimy (watch their cross country video here)
“I sold my top Advanced horse last year to fund some young horses to produce and sell in the hope of getting a good reputation for selling some nice young horses. Jaimy who is a 15.3 5yr old KWPN gelding was one of the horses I bought and have produced to event. He’s so laid back and easy for a five-year-old and he has taken to eventing so well especially considering that he only saw his first cross country jump in May”
“I felt the course at Horseheath was quite testing, especially in the terribly windy conditions we had. The team did an amazing job to keep the event running through that”
After her flight was delayed, Anna Czylok got home from Portugal at 5:30 am the morning of the event and went on to win Section C on her own Curolea Mika, or Casper at home, a registered ISH.
“He was a very green rising six-year-old when I bought him five years ago and I feel very fortunate to have the superstar he has turned into. He is the kindest and easiest horse to manage on the ground but comes alive at events. I have successfully evented him up to BE100 and competed at the Mitsubishi Motors Cup at Badminton”
“I share the ride with former 5* eventer, Nat Dixon, who rides and competes him as well due to my university commitments (I am at Vet School) and she has had considerable success with him, including Novice wins, numerous top 10 finishes and two top 10 finishes around his first two Intermediates this season.”
“I was in the BE100 at Horseheath due to having an unfortunate fall at the water at Chilham Castle two weeks ago. I’m trying to get mileage around Novice tracks but had to take a step down for confidence. The plan is that I’ll run him at one more BE100 and then try Novice again.”
Scarlett Ryder and Gortmorris Dun competing in the BE105
The BE105 Section D was won by Joanne Watts on Churchside Reflection owned and bred by Mrs Deirdre Hunt.
“The conditions on Saturday were rather windy and he was a little spookier because of this but coped very well. I was really pleased with his dressage test and he then jumped a lovely double clear. The cross-country rode really well: it was a flowing track and I think the technicality was spot on. It was definitely more testing than a BE100 and I think these classes are a brilliant stepping stone between 100 and Novice. The event, as always, was so well run, friendly and such generous sponsors”
Section E in the BE105 was won by Catherine Sadler on her own Irish gelding, Royale Messenger. The BE90 Section F was won by Sophie Reason on Ballygriffin Buddy and Section G was won by Clare Dobie on Kildangan Calypso, both owned by their riders. Alice Haynes won the 4 Year Old qualifier her own Emerald Coffey.
BE90 Section H was won by Katie Hale on Claydon Robinia (watch their cross country video here) who she owns in collaboration with Liz Maybury and Section I was won by Lucy Haycock on her own Silver Viking (watch their cross country video here)
Henry Dollar won the under 18 Section J in the BE90, beating his sister on her old horse, Brosna King (which would have made for an interesting family dinner that evening!)
Martha Hall won the BE80 (T) Section L on Hearnsbrook Cygnus, Susan Tomalin won Section M on Mr Beaujangles and Josephine Gleeson won Section N on OFS Ruffian, all horses ridden by their owners.
Horseheath is always an inclusive event, and they really made the most of the difficult weather conditions this weekend. Fortunately the rain held off until we were packing away and, by making use of some conveniently placed fence posts, our cameras stayed up all weekend to film every competitor on their way round. See you next year, Horseheath!
Article by Jess Johnson
