A Ribbon for Flying Freddy "the Rocket Cob", A win for Fiddlewood and a ribbon for Stonedge..
A trip north for the weekend with a return trip to Scone.
Originally the plan had been to run four horses but NBR had a late request from Mary Grant, the new owner of Fiddlwood for Nicky to take the ride.
So the full squad was Fiddlewood (BE90), Stonedge and SkyeRhode in the BE100, Bally Cassidy in the Novice and Freddy Curtis out for the second time in a week at Intermediate.
We were staying at Gleneagles, which clearly offered better opportunities for an anniversary dinner than Burger King had done the week before ( a requirement). A number of local gardens also kept Mrs Kerr entertained.
There were no fewer than six owners being represented, and we arrived mid afternoon on Saturday. We even had breeders in attendance.
So there has been rain …
This was the first event we had attended this year where the tractors were required to drag lorries out, if required (needed in some cases), and after recent rain the ground certainly had some give.
It’s amazing how different the conditions can be both further north and further south. We have been wanting some rain to help the arenas progress, and was wondering where it had gone.
Another well organised event
The event was professionally laid out as always and the fences on the cross country course certainly provided a good challenge at all levels. It was also interesting the see the course designer actually tackling his own fences. The dressage location was as before, and the show jumping had been moved slightly to cater for a slightly larger area for stalls.
The programme was also fairly comprehensive but the aerial photographs from Burnham Market still have the edge.
The showjumping does require further comment though. The course design and degree of difficulty was more akin to a pure showjumping competition rather than part of a three day event, something that had attracted significant comment from various of the top riders during the course walk and was born out in the rounds themselves. I had a better chance to look at the Novice and Intermediate courses. In the Novice class there were 25% clear rounds with 15% in the intermediate classes and even a score of 100. The time set was also fairly tight, ensuring that some who had gone clear ended up with time faults. This wasn’t like Aske 1 last year where simply breathing on a fence was enough to knock it down, in an undulating arena, but it certainly was a stiff test, and was another reason for feeling reasonably pleased with Freddy’s performance.
The whole event does seem to have taken a step up since the last visit and certainly seems worthy of holding the Scottish Open Championships as a replacement for Thirlestane. There was certainly enough of a challenge in the various disciplines to make riders and horses think.
NBR NEWS
First up was Fiddlewood on Friday with Mary Grant asking Nicky to take the ride in one of the Intro classes.
Both Nicky and Mary were delighted when Fiddlewood led the field home to lock in the Yard’s first victory of the season.
We arrived on Saturday in time to catch the tail end of the BE100 classes with Sky Rhode and Stonedge involved.
We had missed Sky Rhode’s dressage and Showjumping but caught half of Stonedge’s test which looked reasonably accomplished. Both scores were reasonably similar in the mid 30’s
I had the opportunity to meet his breeders who then looked on as Stonedge proceeded to have two of the easier uprights down whilst showing amazing scope with the spreads.
Both then had very impressive cross country rounds, clear inside the time. Sky Rhode came in 14th but Stonedge grabbed his first ribbon at BE100 coming in 9th.
Originally the plan had been to run four horses but NBR had a late request from Mary Grant, the new owner of Fiddlwood for Nicky to take the ride.
So the full squad was Fiddlewood (BE90), Stonedge and SkyeRhode in the BE100, Bally Cassidy in the Novice and Freddy Curtis out for the second time in a week at Intermediate.
We were staying at Gleneagles, which clearly offered better opportunities for an anniversary dinner than Burger King had done the week before ( a requirement). A number of local gardens also kept Mrs Kerr entertained.
There were no fewer than six owners being represented, and we arrived mid afternoon on Saturday. We even had breeders in attendance.
So there has been rain …
This was the first event we had attended this year where the tractors were required to drag lorries out, if required (needed in some cases), and after recent rain the ground certainly had some give.
It’s amazing how different the conditions can be both further north and further south. We have been wanting some rain to help the arenas progress, and was wondering where it had gone.
Another well organised event
The event was professionally laid out as always and the fences on the cross country course certainly provided a good challenge at all levels. It was also interesting the see the course designer actually tackling his own fences. The dressage location was as before, and the show jumping had been moved slightly to cater for a slightly larger area for stalls.
The programme was also fairly comprehensive but the aerial photographs from Burnham Market still have the edge.
The showjumping does require further comment though. The course design and degree of difficulty was more akin to a pure showjumping competition rather than part of a three day event, something that had attracted significant comment from various of the top riders during the course walk and was born out in the rounds themselves. I had a better chance to look at the Novice and Intermediate courses. In the Novice class there were 25% clear rounds with 15% in the intermediate classes and even a score of 100. The time set was also fairly tight, ensuring that some who had gone clear ended up with time faults. This wasn’t like Aske 1 last year where simply breathing on a fence was enough to knock it down, in an undulating arena, but it certainly was a stiff test, and was another reason for feeling reasonably pleased with Freddy’s performance.
The whole event does seem to have taken a step up since the last visit and certainly seems worthy of holding the Scottish Open Championships as a replacement for Thirlestane. There was certainly enough of a challenge in the various disciplines to make riders and horses think.
NBR NEWS
First up was Fiddlewood on Friday with Mary Grant asking Nicky to take the ride in one of the Intro classes.
Both Nicky and Mary were delighted when Fiddlewood led the field home to lock in the Yard’s first victory of the season.
We arrived on Saturday in time to catch the tail end of the BE100 classes with Sky Rhode and Stonedge involved.
We had missed Sky Rhode’s dressage and Showjumping but caught half of Stonedge’s test which looked reasonably accomplished. Both scores were reasonably similar in the mid 30’s
I had the opportunity to meet his breeders who then looked on as Stonedge proceeded to have two of the easier uprights down whilst showing amazing scope with the spreads.
Both then had very impressive cross country rounds, clear inside the time. Sky Rhode came in 14th but Stonedge grabbed his first ribbon at BE100 coming in 9th.
Sunday brought the Novice and Intermediate, with Bally Cassidy’s first attempt at novice. We were too late to see Bally Cassidy’s dressage including an impromptu pirouette, which is a move that I don’t think features in the new test. What he did right he did well, but some of his other parts clearly need some work, as the owner, Sharon Lindop, was able to see looking up from dressage writing at the CIC2*. He only had one down showjumping which was a very good result, in a class where there were only four clear rounds, and plenty in double figures. He also did himself credit in the Cross-Country with only 8.8 time faults, a round made even more exciting by a part of the bit breaking half-way round. He ended up just outside the ribbons in 11th , but all three disciplines clearly showed his potential.
We are able to see both Bally Cassidy and Freddy Curtis at the Logs in the pictures below..
We are able to see both Bally Cassidy and Freddy Curtis at the Logs in the pictures below..
Which brings us nicely onto Freddy. After an unsettled start to the season when he seemed to have the concentration of a flea, his mind set has undoubtedly improved and this was he first time we have effectively run him back to back at the same class. The novice at Lincoln was followed a week after by the intermediate novice at Gatcombe, but in both cases he wasn’t really mentally attuned. Burnham was also tricky, but I'm pleased to say that the improvement at Belton carried on here. His dressage was mid 30’s again. The showjumping was a particularly tricky course but to his credit he jumped really well, and it was a shame he just had the last fence down. In the end there were only two horses clear in the class inside the time, which reflects well on him.
He really tried on the cross country course too and visibility is such at Scone that we were able to see large amounts of the round, except the upper loop. Perhaps Freddy’s picture above can be used to market Scone 2 ..it certainly gives the impression of what is required to tackle the course. He came home with 11.26 time faults to slot in 7th. Given the complexities in both the Showjumping arena and Cross Country this was an extremely good result for him and his best at intermediate level.
The NBR team then went back to the lorry for a celebratory drink, where I had the opportunity to meet both Mary and Cameron Grant and Sharon Lindop. Lets hope for many more opportunities.
Other items
This is probably the first time I have actually seen the designer of a cross country course actually ride it as well, and Ian Stark slotted in 6th one place above Freddy. It was very interesting to see some of the lines that he took at certain fences compared with some of the others. It was also good that Emily Galbraith survived a rotational fall at the 3rd without too much damage, as I was able to catch up with the whole family including Emily after the round. We had actually been discussing that particular fence before she started, and noted that the course designers had already taken five inches from the width. It had actually ridden very well up to that point, and thereafter and in this case the horse simply wasn’t cooperating from the start of the round and come into the fence with no forward impetus. It is clear from the picture below that the photographer’s were present at this fence. Also featuring in the Novice class was Debbie and Tony Whalley’s Merikano making it into the points for the third event on the trot. Certainly a six year old to keep an eye on.
So how did we do and where next?NBR came away with three ribbons out of the five competing, and there was certainly reasonable cause for encouragement all round.
Next up for the yard in addition to some potential horse shopping, will be a trip to Aston Le Walls with Trig Point, Bally Cassidy, Freddy Curtis, and Sky Rhode.
We are running Trig in the Open Novice to give him some dressage variety ahead of the NRF at Floors. He does have two bites at the cherry but we obviously would like to qualify at Floors as it is on our doorstep.
The other runners at Floors include Bally Cassidy, Stonedge, Freddy and Sky Rhode.
The blog looks set to be absent from Aston but will make its return for the two days of floors, and we are still waiting to see if Trig point will do the CCI 1* at Tattersalls the week after.
Already one looks at the initial plans for the year and sees how one needs have built in flexability.
Thanks again to James and the team at Scone. Well organised and we are looking forward to Scone 2…(if plans don’t change)..
Thanks too to all the eventers who have donated towards Iona’s climb up the Eildons which is due next Saturday.
Its not too late!!.. http://www.justgiving.com/ionakerrsponseredrun
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