Wutella in the 2* dressage
My three CCI rides all did themselves proud and certainly on the jumping they made things easier for me bearing in mind my leg still wasnt at its best. Shaun started things off with a brilliant test getting a 47 which is an improvement of something like 12 marks from last time! Alice then got herself a little over excited in her dressage and got in quite a muddle a few times which was such a shame as outside she had been lovely and calm. Wutellas test was nearly mistake free and she came out with a 47.6. I was last to go and felt like everyone was watching so I had really hoped to get an amazing test out of her but although it wasn’t amazing I was pleased that everyone said she looked very elegant and happy!
Can’t get much squarer than that!
XC day was a blast plus it was also my Birthday. I had a terrible birthday last year as my hamster ‘Milky’ died so I really didn’t want a repeat of that! So thankfully all the horses excelled and I got some lovely cards, gifts and lots of cake! Shaun was pretty wild and nearly took out the start box going backwards before we even started. The round then had more drama as his breastplate broke off his stud girth at the first water. I jumped the next few fences with it flapping and then I leant forwards to grab it and just held the loop for the rest of the course! Alice was first of my two rides in the 2star. She just breezed round and was brave, quick thinking and rideable. She got a little tired so I just let her coast round the last section of the course but what an exciting attitude she showed for the future. Wutella was last to go and she just ATE the course. She easily stormed round way inside the time and I even had to slow her down towards the last few fences. What an incredible horse she is!
After they all got through the trot up without any worries they all gave me three lovely clears in the show jumping and finished the weekend off in the best possible way. Wutella finished in 9th place and Shaun in 12th so they both did a great job to finish on their dressage scores in such huge sections.
Elton H in the 4yo Championship
In the Young Horse Championships my lack of input beforehand was a bit more evident. Its not so easy to expect young horses to perform without the homework. I had not ridden Elton H since Burghley and he had not been XC since Skipton which was many many weeks ago (probably about 2 months)! Therefore he was actually pretty amazing to do as well as he did. He got a good test and had his first ever pole down with me in the SJ. He was then a little green on the XC and spooked at the corner picking up 20 penalties. It was a shame for him as he should have got a double clear which would have given him second place. But under the circumstances he still did well. Dolly Tess obviously divided the dressage judges opinions with a good 20 marks difference between them. What a shame she was not to one judges liking as her immaculate double clear round an influential SJ track moved her up many places, sadly not enough for a top 10 finish. However she showed maturity and scope that you don’t come across every day in a 5 year old.
