A game of two halves at
It was good to see the Scottish circuit not at badminton pretty much out in full force, without balloting, and the weather was kinder than the forecast might have suggested
It was good to catch up with Iain Graham, and hear at first hand some of the significant changes going on in the sport, instigated by British Eventing which are very encouraging for the sport’s future. Such moves can only be gradual, but are definitely needed and encouraging to see. The programme was informative. There weren’t many trade stands, but given the type of event that was understandable.
The stewards were approachable and it was good to see the BE presence very visible. The stewards needed to be visible as it turned out, given the rather stiff nature of the cross country course (more later)
A quick NBR summary
Saturday saw the Intro competitions for both Fleur de Matinee and the renamed Time Will Tell IV, who has now become Sky Rhode
Both came 14th via different routes in their first outings for 2008. Fleur was very uncooperative in both the dressage and show jumping while Nicky sensible took her time with Sky Rhode Cross Country. Next outings Hexham
We left at around four pm just after the Pre-novice sections had got underway, but just before a crunching rotational fall, which we heard about later. Fortunately the rider actually hit the obstacle, the badminton table, on the way through, which prevented here from coming into contact with the horse, and ended up with a broken collarbone. The bravery of the participants remains visible.
Sunday
Three runners today and mixed results.
Fiddlewood came fourth in the pre novice, and Cherry Law came second in one of the Novice classes getting 5 points, which had looked extremely unlikely after her dressage. She was perhaps a beneficiary of the carnage at the last element of the water, which sadly also accounted for Trig Point, where he picked up a technical elimination and despite finishing was deemed to have had is head on the wrong side of the obstacle at the second time of asking, removing the red flag in the process.
This was a shame because his dressage had been much better than Belton, and would have scored even better but for a “blonde moment” by the riderleading to an error of course (second year in a row for Trig Point). Fortunately Lady Hope had been judging the previous day, and wasn’t there to see this one. The showjumping was also much better, only knocking one behind, and clearing the others well. He also had done a very good round cross-country up to that point, and he finished well over the remaining fences. All the more frustrating was the victory by Fair Trade in the same class, and one hopes that the deeply unsatisfactory state of affairs existing with that horse is brought to a rapid conclusion.
Next stop for Trig Point – Hexham
The Course.
The stewards had already installed a ground line at 10b after requests from the riders, but the water clearly caused havoc amongst the field, especially the younger horses. The early water, jumping into shadow accounted for a few, but the exit from the water, up a short sharp incline an then two strides into a skinny caught a huge number out, and given the technicalities of the fence, there should have been an alternative option. Faced with presenting again at the same element from the water the result was almost foregone.
The stewards, and BE representatives were on hand, and could clearly see the problem, but because all novice classes were being run in tandem, were not in a position to make any adjustments, though they clearly wished they could have done. They also brought up the point that the riders had not raised the issue prior to the start, which was fair, and it also wasn’t the case that the fence was dangerous. At this stage of the season an alternative would have been preferable as one can see from the bald statistics below.
Altogether in the Open Novice of the 27 who started cross country 14 went clear, 5 had one refusal and the other 8 were eliminated
In the straight Novice sections in section K 29 went out , 14 came back clear, 4 had faults , and 11 didn’t make it, with the water (either the first or second ) accounting for virtually all. In Section J the picture was pretty similar, 28 went out, 15 returned clear, 4 with penalties, and 9 fell by the wayside.
One third of all novices failed to get back to the finish line, which is a fairly startling statistic, and is certainly the highest I have seen so far in my short exposure to eventing, and I am even keener to learn more about the intricacies of course design, and the merits of alternatives after this weekend.
The show jumping also wasn’t without incident but provided a more balanced challenge with only a very few going clear.
I had left before the end on Sunday, but was in time see some more cross country challenges being thrown at the intermediate riders, but the results didn’t quite show the same degree of damage, as in the Novice classes
Next stop will be a one day blog from Chatsworth
I am sad to be missing the Sunday but an FP agm at school along with a sports day, and company visits in Aberdeen, mean that it will be a Saturday Report
We have the weekend off at Floors but may head down there to see the other riders, and then have Houghton as the highlight the week after.
Lets hope this better weather can stay with us…
Also there is a slightly bizarre glitch on the BE website covering the novice classes from scone. The results are on the individual horses records, but the class results seem to have got hidden ..
No comments:
Post a Comment