An Eventful Life filmed all competitors on cross country at
Shelford Manor (1) - find out more here
We had some interesting weather at Shelford Manor last weekend, getting drenched and then sunburnt all in the same day! Nevertheless, the ground held up exceptionally well and there were very few incidents all weekend, a real credit to BEDE and their team of helpers.
Twenty-four-year-old Abi Boulton from Tic Toc Eventing won the BE100 Section A on Wendy Paintain’s brilliant little mare May Day. Abi has a range of horses kept at her yard in Staffordshire, ranging from foals to 5* horses, and says she always has great fun competing at Shelford Manor. The course is ideal for young or inexperienced horses and Abi particularly likes the fact that the dressage is located at the back of the lorry park, allowing the horses to concentrate away from the hustle and bustle of the jumping phases. The cross-country is laid out such that most of it is visible to owners and spectators and Abi plans to continue bringing her horses here for many years to come. Abi also took two ex-racers, Andrew Ayre’s Battersea and her own Born A Saint, for their first taste of eventing where they both performed well in the unaffiliated, gaining two top 10 placings.
Section B was won by Donna Abell on her own Eagle Eye DHI and Section C in the BE100Ou18 class was won by Jess Corser on Tammie Corser’s Anastasia II. This was a relatively new horse for Jess, only arriving four weeks ago so Shelford was only their third event together. Jess now hopes to step her up to Novice and aim for the Six-Year-Old classes. Jess was helping her other ride, Miss Indigo owned by Dominic Murray, to gain some confidence in the cross-country phase and so a win was a nice bonus. This mare will also be stepping up to novice before going home to continue her progress with her owners.
Section D in the BE100Ou18 class was won by thirteen-year-old Edward Howard on Springfield Baby Bell owned by Madelaine Wolfenden. Edward describes this 11-year-old pony as ‘amazing’ and hopes to get onto the BE100u18 East Midlands team for Frickley Park this year and he would like to try his first Novice round by the end of this season.
Edward unfortunately had a fall from his other pony, Helen Howard’s Rickamore Oscar who, despite being 18 years old, is sometimes on a mission to break his rider’s arms! This young rider described his day at Shelford as a fab experience to see that you can have your ups and downs, and says that although he fell off, he was still really proud of his win and so overall he had a fun and educational day.
Nicola Cornforth and Sandlands Brewster Rooster in the BE100 Section U
Section E in the BE100 was won by Victoria Wentworth on her own Dilano Z, Section R by Georgie Rockingham on September Song and Section P by Emily Baxendale on Dunnanew Dakota, all owned by their riders. Section V was won on Eden III, ridden by Abigail Unwin and owned by Sophie Edwards.
Angus Pimblott, of AP Equestrian in North Lincolnshire, won the BE100 Section O on Saxy Park Lane, affectionately known as Parky, owned by Deborah Bhattacharya. Deborah bought Parky as an unbroken three year old from Lucy Saxelby, a local breeder. Angus’s son, Charlie Pimblott, also competed at Shelford in the BE100Ou18 Section D on Millie Magic, owned by Alexa Regis, coming 5th in his section.
Sam Gillespie had a cracking day, winning sections Q and S in the 5YO class, and Section U in the BE100 class. Amongst his prizes, Sam won two of our cross country videos (watch Rossmount Trendy above).
The two five year olds, Rossmount Trendy, owned by Samantha Alberto and GFS Moonlight Echo, owned by Jackie Lançon, have now qualified for the young horse championships at Osberton later this year and Sam is really excited for their future. Kaizer, also owned by Jackie Lançon, used to be a circus horse so has had quite the career change, and is now based in the Cotswolds with Sam after his recent move from Leicestershire. Sam was pleased he made the effort to come to Shelford, having attended many times in the past, and will definitely be returning.
Trudy Johnson, of Twin Oaks Eventing, won the BE100Open Section T on Catch Me If U Can owned by Nigel Johnson. Trudy explained that she has been suffering a real confidence crisis since March and had been really struggling to enjoy eventing until she decided to seek help from Jo Davies, her sports psychologist, and her instructor, Owen Moore. I feel that the way Trudy describes her experience probably rings true with a lot of us – “Our mind is a powerful tool in this sport when it is working with us but boy when it’s against you it can pull you right down!”
Shelford was the perfect event for Trudy to start believing in herself and her horses again, with the course presenting some questions, but presented in such a way that the horse could read the answers, she says she is now looking forward to going out eventing again.
Jessica Butkeraitis and Gortahork Caoimhe in the BE90 X1
Ellie Clarke bagged herself the win in BE90 Section H on Forans Sweet Clover, owned by Penny Sharpe, and a second place in the BE90 Section K on Helen Marsh’s 19-year-old gelding Lex IV. Ellie had only been riding Forans Sweet Clover for a week, after her owner broke her leg the week before, so they were rightfully delighted with the results.
Section G in the BE90 went to Abigail Van Den Heever on Irish Kelpie, Section I was won by Emily Pugh-Lewis on Priestown Alfie and Section K by Sara Ridgway on Ska Buachaill Mor, all owned by their riders. Lottie Surl took the win in Section J on Glencullen Bailey owned by Wendy De Capell Brooke and Yo-Yo Farmer-Day.
Section W1 was won by Amy Smith on her own Sherry Triffle, Section W2 by Kathryn Woolley on Oberonza owned by Caroline Patrick and Section X1 by Sarah Turner on Ryehill Princess owned by Jocelyn Finnigan.
Katie Stephens-Grandy had a nasty fall off a youngster three weeks before the start of the 2018 season and shattered her left leg and ankle into 22 pieces. Having spent 14 months of recovery and rehab at Jackberry House where just being able to walk again was difficult, let alone being able to ride, she came out and won her BE90 Section X2 at Shelford. She bought her horse, Trendy Magic Touch, as a very nervous four-year-old who she has worked hard with alongside her trainer Chris McGrann and co-owner Maggie Inglis. Katie and Trendy Magic Touch competed together in the 2017 Badminton Mitsubishi Motors Cup, but since her accident they have completed a couple of BE90’s to get him up and running again.
Katie says she was delighted with his dressage score of just 25.3 but that he spent most of the time spooking during the cross-country. She hopes to step him back up to BE100 level now and once he has settled back into the swing on things they are aiming for some novice classes.
Heather Elston was delighted with her first BE win with her own Stormhill Starlight, affectionately known as Carla, in the BE80(T) Section N. They ran cross-country after 6pm, meaning that the jumps were throwing shadows meaning that Heather had to ride much more forward than she was used to with this mare.
She is now aiming to get to the BE80 championships at Burghley with Carla, having been to the grassroots championships at Badminton twice with her old mare, Smartie Pants. Heather is enjoying being able to train and compete her horses much more having taken early retirement in February last year having worked as the head of the animal and equine department at Nottingham Trent University.
Toby Bancroft and The Captain in the BE100 Section E
Section L in the BE80(T) class was won by Rosemary Myers on her own Easter Star II and Section M went to Macklemores True Diamond owned and ridden by Karen Stimpson.
On the Tuesday it was the turn of the Unaffiliated classes, running over the BE80, 90 and 100 courses from the long weekend but classified as pre-intro, intro and pre-novice respectively.
In the Pre-Intro class, section A was won by Rebecca Harding on Jemima, Section B by Karen Boulton on Danish Nasham and Section C by Phoebe Lyle on Odie Kingsborough.
Amy Binch won the Pre-Intro Section D on her own Bida Badger Boo who she has owned and produced since he was a two year old. Amy says Badger can be a bit of a thug but is ruled by his belly and will do anything for food. Badger was bought to be a happy hacker but started showing some enthusiasm for jumping so Amy decided to have a crack at some eventing. Shelford was the first ODE they ever competed at five years ago and last weekend was the first time they had ever won.
Section E in the Intro class was won on Monmore Promise, ridden by Blaine Cooper-Jones, Emma Squires took the win in Section F on Shannondale Beatrix, Section G was won by Anneka Fisher on Milo, Section H by Bethany Chapman on Ashton Flight and Section I by Lauren Allin on Waterford Ronnie.
There was only one section of Pre-Novice and this was won by Lisa Freckingham on Star.
Everyone I spoke to enthused about how friendly and well run Shelford events are, with lots of people appreciating how useful it is as an educational run for young or inexperienced horses (or riders!). I look forward to the next one in August!
Article by Jess Johnson
Claire Deuton and Prestiges Golden Debut in the BE100 Section E
