Event Owners Blog from Little Gatcombe 2

Trig Point comes of age.. A Simply Superb Second in the CIC2* ..and Upgrades

Another action packed three days at Little Gatcombe with plenty of opportunity to watch other riders on the first couple of days with a rather spread out programme.

NBR Runners
Fiddlewood – CIC *
Freddy Curtis, Trig Point – CIC**

Weather – Spectacularly good for the three days, though the lack of rain certainly was evident from the ground, which was much firmer than we have been used to North of the Border this summer (not very difficult). The ground was treated, but any riders coming unstuck received a pretty uncomfortable landing and led to several trips for the mobile ambulances over the three days. Everyone was on hand very quickly in the case of any emergency, but it did lead to a few delays, and in the end one fence being taken out completely in the 2*. But more on that later.
Accommodation on this occasion was not far away, with hosts Edward and Kate Gordon-Lennox providing an excellent base from which to operate, and seemed to bring a similar vein of fortune to the last time that I stayed.

Dressage was completed on the Friday and Saturday for the international classes.
Fiddlewood was first up and did a very creditable 54.5. Last to go in the CIC2* on Day One was Freddy, and with prize giving in the background, he was unable to settle and came in with a 68.8 lying well down the field.
Trig Point’s dressage was an entirely different prospect. Not only did he work in well, but he did an exemplary test, easily his best of the season, to gain a 46.3, to lie a very impressive third.

Sunday brought the Showjumping and Cross Country
Fiddlewood had one rail down in what was a very tidy round otherwise, and later on in the day completed his cross country round with 11.6 time faults to finish a creditable 33rd.
His round was interrupted because of fence repairs and he was held on the course, but he answered every question otherwise, apart from needing a growl at the water.

In the two star Freddy went first, after a long delay caused by a rider fall, and the decision to take out the angled rails was made (17ab). Most riders had handled it comfortably. However the problems that arose when things didn’t go according to plan necessitated that the fence be taken out of action. I had seen Ginny Howe, pictured below, and Ruth Edge, ride the fence comfortably, though Sam Griffiths had had a stop whilst I was there. Freddy and Trig Point both had to pass the obstacle by the time that their turn came.


With Freddy having come unstuck at the Second last in the autumn last year and given his dressage score the decision was made to make sure he got round, and he produced an excellent jumping display, and a real confidence booster, coming back with 25.2 time faults. However he picked up a knock on the way round and was unable to do the Show jumping, though he seems to have recovered quite well.

If anyone wanted to know what 20 time faults look like in pictures it probably can be seen below.
Firstly we have Freddy at the sixth .. just getting into his stride..

Then Trig Point (Jerry really Springing) ..
He simply was eating up the ground by this stage and was able to go round in one of the quicker times of the day with only 4.8 time faults which moved him to second…
One can see even from the still taken from video the different approach

So then to the Showjumping , in reverse order.
The top ten were fairly tight, except for Ruth Edge on Applejack who had a two fence lead over Trig Point in second.
I am afraid I was too tense to take any photos, which was probably just as well, as Trig Point produced a sensational clear round, dispelling any of the uncertainties from earlier in the season in this discipline.
In fact his other clear round at Intermediate level was at ….Gatcombe (1) .. This was seriously impressive. Ruth Edge had one down with Applejack, which was enough to take the spoils.
A double clear in his first CIC2* with a 46.3 dressage, is a fantastic result.. Welcome to the big time..

His season closes as it started with points and prizes at Gatcombe..
Trig Point picked up 14 points with his Second Place , taking him to 35 for the season and to 61 overall moving him to Grade 1
So a real upgrade..

The yard total now moves on to 85 for the year, with Aske to come where Friday, Night Porter and Stonedge could contribute.
Trig Point 35, Freddy Curtis 18, Mistral 12, Night Porter 10, My Man Friday 10
Arctic Soul also is scheduled to have his final outing of the season, as will the blog…

There was also the chance to see a whole range of riding skills on display over the three days with time on ones hands (for once)
One place to see discretion (or valour) was at the fourth/fifth on the Intermediate Track, where Nicky had used discretion with Freddy earlier in the year.
There were some examples of excellent riding, with Gemma Tattersall being a striking example on Nyali Beach, on the way to an excellent Second place in the Open Intermediate..





On the other hand there was someone who went through so fast, and carried on in the same vein, over the next fences that the fence judge and I both looked at eachother, and we simply awaited developments.
It didn’t take long.. Fence 13 ..rider fall. Inevitable.,, Others were not quite so polished, but an early test and an early signal of how the round might go..
Although it didn’t take a huge number of casualties the way the fence was tackled certainly made for fascinating watching.


Last thing to be done before heading home was Prize Giving and it was terrific to see Nicky at the top end of the leader board.
Little Gatcombe delivers a top six place for the third time in a row.. but this one was something really special ..


Roll on 2010 …