Event Owners Blog from Burgie - The Friendly Games.

Trig Point leads the charge..Arctic Soul opens his career.
Prizes Points and Ribbons..

So is this what eventing might have been like.
An amazing friendly atmosphere amidst a pretty intense competition which a number of challenges set by the course designers.
The event has been going in affiliated form for thirty two years, and the years rolled back as Abba was heard blaring across the lorry park on Saturday evening. The clock was also rolled back as Ian Stark returned to the podium in the two star.. but more on that later..

I had wanted to see the event for some time having heard a lot about it, and wasn’t disappointed. It may seem a long way to go but is certainly worth it.
Both horse and rider (as we shall see later) need to be in pretty good shape to tackle this course, and the use of the undulating terrain by the designers meant that a sensible approach on the cross country seemed sensible. The showjumping also proved a stern test and one glance at the course before we had to make and early departure suggested that the bar had been set quite high, with a tight time.

But that gets us well ahead of ourselves,
NBR had five horses at the event
Trig Point and Freddy Curtis were in the CCI*, Skye Rhode in the CIC*, Fiddlewood in the Novice, and Arctic Soul opening his eventing career in the BE90.
The support crew was also in attendance sporting the team colours..

We headed North on the Thursday but were too late to see Trig point’s dressage, and had to leave on Sunday morning, but quite a lot was fitted in the intervening period.
We were staying at a charming B&B run by Lucy Mackenzie , who made us feel totally at home, and this looks to be on the regular return visit calendar going forward, and it was comfortably within striking distance of the event. The evenings entertainments also seemed something for the riders to enjoy before the thrills and spills of the actual event..
We were able to get acclimatized on Thursday afternoon ahead of the very well attended owner/rider drinks which had to be held in the wonderful Burgie House

Entertainment a feature..
There were plenty of other events laid on during the other evenings but we chose to try to eat elsewhere.
Team NBR tried to utilize the local hostelry, and one of the event sponsors, on Friday evening, with some difficulty.
The Kimberley Arms has a restricted childrens license as we discovered applying to children under 14 after 8, which meant we had to eat outside in the covered smokers snug. (stopping others from smoking)
Then the table was given away before the rest arrived, and to cap it all the organizers party and team NBR discovered when they wanted to order desserts (around 20) the kitchens had closed 10 minutes earlier.
Sounds like a missed opportunity for the pub concerned and there was no connection with the well organized event.

Organisation
The increasing numbers of riders wearing the inflatable protection vests was thoughtfully catered for with a big sign after the finish saying “Don’t Forget to unplug yourself”
It is fast becoming a new sport to see how many riders one can spot leaping off without remembering to unplug themselves, and we got a big prize as Emily Lochore came unstuck with the family in attendance. Much mirth all round. On a more serious note it is very encouraging to see as many riders taking up the use of this device and I hope many more will.

The lay out of the event also appealed with the cross country course having fantastic viewing and one was able to see a high percentage of of the jumps without having to move too much
It was unfortunate that I had to leave before seeing much of the show-jumping in the main arena but the setting looked good, and was surrounded by a significant number of stalls,
The Burgie Shirts with all the horses entered for the event, again was a good idea, and certainly found their way into team NBR’s hands.
The dressage arena in front of the main house provided another good setting though the very earlier damp weather did mean that the ground chewed up a little under the trees on one side .
The other dressage and showjumping were held nearby and were easily reachable.
The scoring was also very prompt and was in fact, one of the fastest this year, with two computers handy as well to view the scores.

Parking
The owners were permitted in the lorry park and despite the mud the one way traffic system seemed to work pretty well, and there seemed to be plenty of places for the traffic to be directed to.

The range of events seemed very popular with raised numbers across the board, a big plus in the current environment.
I didn’t manage to see any of the tater events and was focusing mainly on the three days events looking at border riders.

Dressage
NBR had a pretty satisfactory outing in the dressage across all the classes.
Trig Point in his first three day test came in with a 50.5, which I was sad to have missed.
Freddy wasn’t on until the next day, but stunned us all with a 48.9, which left him in 15th and Jerry in 21st, and Sharon Lindop most amused.
I had intended to see the better of the two tests and so it turned out.
The others were all first timers at their various levels..
In the CIC* Skye Rhode did an impressive 54.1 leaving him 6th , Fiddlewood a 37.5 in his first Novice putting him 4th and Arctic Soul got a 32 in his first BE90 test putting him third.
He looked as though he had been doing dressage all his life (or at least a lot longer than a month). In the background there were bird scarers, the showjumping arena loudspeakers, and bells, and he even had swallows swooping around his feet. Very attractive movements too, even at an early stage, so very pleased. It was also an opportunity to see Ruth Edge doing a superb test on Applejack, and Emily Galbraith producing Timing’s best test of the season so far.

The events took a slightly different order after the dressage so we will take the CCI competitors first with the dramatic events on the cross-country, and follow up with the completion on Sunday,,

By Saturday the ground was perfect and Trig Point was one of the first to go. It became clear fairly early on that the time was doable, and there were also only three refusals in the first thirty horses.
The course still needed to be paced sensibly though and very encouragingly for future outings, Jerry had few worries and never really needed to stretch. Having taken been behind after the first minute with a very steady start, it was no problem to crank up the pace and he came home comfortably inside the time with plenty more in the tank.
Whether the early successes instilled a degree of misplaced confidence in the riders it isnt clear, but the casualties gradually mounted and out of the 73 starters 16 came in over the time with four eliminated and two retiring, including Zara who had been third, and the leader after dressage Pebbly Aga Khan. Freddy was one of the last and as ever he tried his heart out, but the sever hills were not ideal, (Houghton is much more his sort of track) and although he came inside the time there was a lack of petrol by the time he reached the top of the hill.
It was enough for both of them to move up the order slightly and Freddy finished the day in 12th with Jerry on 18th

Jerry seen cooling down after his exertions and Freddy heading for the water.

Where the one star had seemed a slightly friendly course the two star cross country clearly wasn’t and set a huge challenge for riders and horses.
The course was cleverly designed and if a horse lost concentration and failed to lock on to a jump it found itself shooting past.
The duck just after the water claimed Emily Galbraith and Zara, amongst others, and of the first 15 only five went clear. By the end four out of fifty nine had managed to get inside the tough optimum time, with 21 clear jumping, and everywhere one looked there seemed to be action. It is much easier to visualise the challenge having been there.

Sunday..
The weather on Sunday was good but we had to leave before each of the events reached their climax and one was left checking the blackberry for the latest scores
We had managed to see Arctic Soul do his dressage but the rest of the days action had yet to unfold.
Skye Rhode became very unsettled in the CIC* ahead of the show-jumping and it wasn’t possible to get him to concentrate. He managed to get 55 faults which was actually more than his dressage score and was withdrawn from the cross country. Ruth Edge who had already been in considerable pain after a fall at Luhmuhlen, had a further fall on Elite Opposition at the 3rd from the elad which was to have ramifications later.

CCI*
In the CCI* Trig Point was to jump out of order, given the closeness of the two in position terms and Colin Hexley’s course had set a stiff challenge.
After the first 25 horses (in reverse order ) not one had gone clear, and Trig Point was the first, producing by all reports a sensational round. He was watched by Peter Murphy, and Andrew Hamilton who both seemed pleased. Freddy adopted a more cavalier approach, wanting to prove he was in charge, though was concentrating a little more than at Hexham, and had one down. The time was also difficult to get which set a further challenge, but Ruth Edge was left to defend her position on Applejack without a fence in hand. It was clear after the first that she was in no position to continue and was forced to withdraw.
In the final shake-up Freddy remained 12th, his best one star results and got two points. Trig Point rose from 18th to finish 5th, a very creditable result in his first one star and gets prize money, and 6 points to add to his total.

Fiddlewood and Arctic Soul
Fiddlewood handled the Novice extremely well. After a good dressage he had knocked a couple of poles in the showjumping but completed an excellent clear cross country to finish ninth.
Arctic Soul had an excellent baptism to Eventing. After his good dressage he went claear showjumping and was guided round the cross country very successfully though with some time faults.
He finished eleventh but his whole performance was excellent considering his recent arrival in the yard.

It was great to see so may good performances acrsoo the classes and to see Ian Stark back on the podium after a stylish cross country round showing how the obstacles should be tackled.

Points for the yard
Trig Point 6 and Freddy 2

Total for the year to date
Trig Point 16, Mistral 12, Freddy 10
And Trig Point now moves to 42 points in total making him the yard leader..

The next event for the horses will be Aske, which I am sad to be missing as we are on holiday, with Trig Point doing a Novice regional final, and Fiddlewood, Freddy, and Sky Rhode all entered
Not sure what happens thereafter or when the blog will return but there will be no shortage of opportunities..

Event Owners Blog from Hexham

Trig Point joins Fiddlewood on the Podium.
Points, Ribbons and prizes..

NBR had six runners over two days at Hexham though I was only in attendance for the major part of the Saturday.
We had had a busy week with the well attended yard opening on Thursday evening encompassing a trot up followed by a display by Trig Point in the arena.
We were extremely lucky with the weather as the photos show, and the whole evening was extremely enjoyable.

Hexham
I avoided the heavy rain which affected the very start of the event, but by mid morning it had dried, and unlike other events which fell victim to the weather this survived.
The runners on Saturday were Bally Cassidy (on what was to be his last run for NBR) and Skye Rhode in the Novice, Freddy Curtis and Trig Point in the Intermediate, and on Sunday Fiddlewood (though dressage late Saturday) and Stonedge in the BE100
I had fears about the ground given how dry it was, but need not have worried, as the going seemed excellent.
There seemed a reasonable number of trade stands to last year, and attendance seemed about the same.
The scores being published were simply painfully slow, but the major operational issues appeared in the showjumping, and this is one of the first times this season I have felt the need to express some concern.

Showjumping – The issues
Before getting into the results I do have to comment on the lack of structure within the showjumping organization which allowed the warm up area to degenerate into a virtual scrum.
The times issued seemed to have no relevance, and horses were being taken in order of appearance, which might have been fine for a series of single riders, but soon completely fell down when multiple riders were appearing have done other disciplines and were trying to adhere to the timetable given to them. Other events seem to cope with this fairly well, but clearly not here, and the stewards were called in, to try and unravel the situation. I do feel sympathy for the volunteers attempting to work an unworkable system, but less for the local stewards who seemed unable to take on constructive suggestions where offered (including some made at the start of the day when it was clear from early on what was going to happen). One excuse for not changing it seemed to be that “eventing is for amateurs and everyone must take their turn”. Not quite sure about that. Can one suggest (and I know the BE Regional Stewards do make suggestions on a regular basis) the adoption of best in class suggestions from various events, as to what works effectively at other events and makes things easier to manage. Riders (and owners) attend heaps of events each year and should have a pretty good idea of initiatives that work well, and spot things that don’t.
Many events are only run once or twice a year, and in many cases don’t have the opportunity to take on board some of the good ideas being used elsewhere.
In the showjumping the Aston-Le-Walls system seemed to get very good airtime, (one event that I have missed so far) where riders are taken in blocks of four as they arrive and then a slot is left for a multiple rider, followed by another block of four and then a multiple and so on. That might then alleviate some of the extremes that seemed to happen at this event.
I also must thank the Stewards involved in both the cross country and dressage, who were very understanding as the situation started to develop. Fortunately I was able to go to both areas well ahead of the scheduled timings to explain that the showjumping was going to have a knock on effect, and we might need some flexibility. In the end Nicky had to spend 50 minutes at the show jumping with one horse and actually was only allowed to ride 35 minutes after her scheduled slot on Trig Point. Doesn’t seem quite right somehow.

The Competition
So far this season dressage has perhaps been the lagging discipline, certainly not helped by the lack of arena until mid march.
It had been pointed out in previous blogs that it might take a couple of months to get up to full speed, both in the showjumping and the dressage.
Showjumping has actually proved very good up to now, but on this occasion all the horses seemed to pull out the stops in the dressage arena.
Showjumping on the whole was trickier with distractions getting the better of some of the horses, but all seemed to perform very well cross country, and Trig Point’s round was very impressive to watch.

BE100Fiddlewood and Stonedge were the competitors in this class.
I had the opportunity to see the new BE100 test in action for the first time and was interested to see how complex and long it seemed to be compared with the previous version.
It didn’t seem to hold any qualms for Fiddlewood who did an excellent test and was awarded a 26 to go into the Sunday part of the competition in joint first.
He then proceeded to do a double clear, winning his section by 5.2 marks. Two outings this year and two wins and the tenth event in a row he has been in the top six
He is now being aimed for the Novice at Burgie so an upgrade in class.
Stonedge also had a good dressage of 27 but was amongst a number of low scorers. He rolled a pole in the showjumping and had 0.8 of a time fault to come in tenth.
He is only five and caught the eye again. He heads off to Bramham Young Event Horse 5 year old on Friday, with Watts Burn doing the 4yo.

Novices.
In the Novice class Bally and Skye Rhode both came in under 40 and with a 35.8 this was Bally’s best dressage since he arrived in the yard.
He rolled a couple showjumping but with a reasonably sprightly Cross Country did enough to get in the Ribbons in 10th Place. He has now been sold by the owner Sharon Lindop and left the event with Matthew Wright. We will be watching his career with interest.
Skye Rhode looked very unsettled entering the showjumping and had three down and was very distracted. Despite a reasonable cross country he finished outside the placings. He now heads for a CIC1* at Burgie

Intermediates
Almost an inversion of the norm for Freddy who seemed remarkably calm for the Dressage and his 35.8 putting him in fourth. However he seemed very distracted in the showjumping not concentrating either in the warm up or going into the ring. (More time would have been much better, but he came right at the end of the class and there still was cross country to do on both). He had three fences down in the first six and how he cleared the rest I am not sure, but improved towards the end. We know what he can do so this was a bit frustrating and actually out of character this year. He went impressively round the cross country picking up just over 10 time faults putting him in 10th place and getting a ribbon.
Pride of place on this occasion goes to Trig Point who, in a similar pattern to last year, hit a different gear as he entered June. The indications had been there at Floors, and we moved forward a stage here.
His dressage of 30 put him at the business end of the competition, and he finally seems to be conquering test 117. Apart from one minor glitch this was a lovely test.

In the showjumping he was unlucky to roll a pole at the treble (again one down at a combination).
This then left the cross country where he was clearly in the mix. He produced a superb cross country round coming in with only two time faults, certainly his best outing at this level and a good preparation for his first three day event. He just missed out on victory by 0.5 of a mark (2 seconds) and came in an impressive third. This combination of scores (70% dressage, one down showjumping, and in the top three) is one of the two qualifications he needs automatically to stay on the Pathway, with the other being achieved within a six month period. The potential is clearly there and seeing him blaze a trail flowing impressively was well worth seeing. He still is only seven.
Next outing for both Freddy and Trig Point is at the CIC1* at Burgie. This will be Freddy’s first three day since the 2* at Necarne and it will be interesting to see how he copes with the hilly course. Burgie will be a first time for me too.

Summary
Six entries led to Five rosettes.
Two visits to the podium, for Fiddlewood and Trig Point, and some prize money.

Points
Freddy had been closing in, but the giant awakens and Trig Point get 8 points for finishing third.
He moves onto 10 for this year and brings the yard total to 30. Mistral 12, Trig Point 10 and Freddy Curtis 8.
Trig Points overall total moves to 36.

Next up
Nicky heads off to Bramham Young event horse followed by the trip the week after to Burgie, when we will be following on.
There may even be an outing for Arctic Soul (Spike) for a bit of training and the experience.