Event Owners Blog - The Election Edition

The Election Edition and some 2010 reflections - Sero Sed Serio

The 42nd Blog in the series takes a slightly different route to normal with a slightly different event to focus on.. The BE Board elections .. Voting is already underway...

The World Championship success for Britain has put the cap on an excellent season overall , and the season has also ended for NBR and we are already looking forward to the publishing of the 2011 calendar, with some winter showjumping and dressage to fill the intervening period (at least till snow gets in the way). As 2010 proved one does need to have a degree of flexibility as one can never rely entirely on the horses being totally accommodating. We also have the EHOA Dinner to look forward to in early November, always an excellent occasion, this time with a change of venue.

But before we look ahead a final event has appeared on the agenda, namely the BE Directors Elections where I have put myself forward as one of nine candidates for three places.

Richard Pack’s excellent photograph of myself with Arctic Soul is part of the launching of the campaign and it shows how far one has come in a four year period, that a picture such as that was able to be taken. While NBR has the motto Semper Porro “always onwards”, the Kerr family motto is Sero Sed Serio, “late but in earnest” which couldn’t be a better description of my time in eventing. Now seems an excellent opportunity to take my involvement further after the first four years familiarization, when the learning curve has been steep.

Having a candidate for the board with a fresh approach, a fresh view, and almost certainly a unique experience in Eventing must surely be something to consider, with an entirely different commercial exposure, honed over 25 years.


The good thing is that the membership does have the choice with a good range of candidates putting themselves forward. It is an exciting time to be involved with the sport, with a huge opportunity created by the Olympics for the sport to be in the public eye. There are obviously issues such as the Articles of Association, Rule Changes, Prize Money, Points, Qualifications, Safety, and so one could go on. Enfranchisement and encouraging members to feel they have a say (enough to vote), is very important and certainly my experiences with the Blog over the last three years certainly show my intentions in that regard. (communication of such a type is also part of my day to day work)

So as other blogs spring up for the campaign itself this one keeps going … and I have been encouraged so far by the good response at this early stage to my candidacy.

The previous blog was from Gatcombe where Arctic Soul closed his campaign and the final competition for NBR was at Osberton where Inishmhor and Cherry Law competed creditably in less than perfect conditions weatherwise but came back safe and sound.

The competitive year closed with The NBR Point Total having reached 116, the first time through 100 points for some time, and also a first Advanced and 3* for sic years. We hope for many more in 2011. There were also 65 Foundation points collected throughout the season and it will be interesting to see how that evolves.

There were 61 entries altogether with wins for Wattsburn, Arctic Soul, Stonedge, Inishmhor and Trig Point (and Emily Galbraith also rode Freddy Curtis three times).

Points contributions came from;

Trig Point – 49 points, Stonedge 33 points (8 events in a row), Cherry Law 23, Fiddlewood 6 Arctic Soul 3, Rare Hero 2,

And the Foundation points;

Arctic Soul 31, Wattsburn 24, Inishmhor 8, stonedge 2

The Blog found its way to eleven events this year with two short breaks in the summer getting in the way of seeing no fewer than three events.

Minor niggles also meant that we had paid the entry fees to Tattersalls, and the Festival at Gatcombe but were unable to compete. Very frustrating.

NBR obviously went to more..

We did criss-cross the country and went to Burnham Market, Belton, Scone, Auchinleck ( a new one), Floors, Hexham, Aston le walls (new), Scone, Blair, Blenheim (new) and Gatcombe.

As ever some lovely places to stay, great competition, and the thee new courses that I visited all had good plus points. It was good to see The owners tent at Belton (though the blog reveals that wasn’t the best of compeitions for us.). The win in the CIC2* at Scone was a well deserved one for Trig point and the success there was probably the competitive highlight of the year. My first visit to Blenheim was really enjoyable and was another step up as Trig Point moves through the grades. Fidelity seems to have a great time as new sponsors and I look forward to having the opportunity to return in years to come, horses permitting..

Pictured below are Trig Point at Blenheim and Arctic Soul at Aston.. two excellent cross country rounds and lets hope we can see more of the same in 2011.

Freddy Curtis was sold late in the year and has headed down to a younger rider in Hertfordshire. He is a great character and we look forward to seeing his progress in 2011.

In 2011 in addition to Trig Point and Arctic Soul, we hope that Mistral will be able to return to competition. His recuperation continues and he has been given the go ahead for flat work and will be involved in the winter showjumping season.

Other movements in the yard. Fiddlewood has gone back to owner Mary Grant, and Indian Mill was sold to Paul Tapners yard, and had already been on the podium twice.

Prospects look encouraging for those that remain, with a good balance of age and experience.

An increasing number of other riders have also started to feature in the blog, and indication perhaps of broadening interest in the sport as a whole, and one can that that can only go one way in 2011.

It was also good to be involved with Eventer’s fund raising, with the MS Evening with Nicky Roncoroni, Emily Galbraith and Sarra mayberry being put through their paces by Les Smith. The Mid Surrey Hunt is also trying to riase a large amount of money to purchase some land , and fellow owner Harry Philips (Wattsburn) tasked Nicky and I to get some eventers to sign a numnah, as they already had a couple of racing ones..

This was a great challenge and the Eventers participating at Little Gatcombe have come up trumps. When you see the names and realize that these were present at competing at one event it perhaps gives another indication of what a tremendous sport this is. The numnah will be auctioned on November 12th and we wait with baited breath.

The autographers…

The eventers to have signed the numnah …

Lucinda Green , Mark Todd, Andrew Hoy , Clayton Fredricks, Pippa Funnell, Ruth Edge, Lucy Wiegersma, Sarah Cohen , Zara Phillips, and Nicky Roncoroni.

That group won (representing different countries )

Olympics –2 individual gold, 3 team gold, 1 individual silver , 4 team silver , 2 individual bronze, 1 team bronze

World Championships –4 team Golds, 2 individual gold, two team bronzes.

European championships.. 6 individual gold, 7 team gold, 1 individual silver, 1 team silver , 1 bronze ,

Also Young Riders European medals : I Team Gold, 1 Individual Silver, One Team Silver and 1 individual bronze..

That is in addition to the top events listed above.

Badminton 13 times, Burghley 7 time , Kentucky 3 Times, Aachen Once, and Luhmuhlen once (also once as a 3 star) .

Eventing Blog From Gatcombe

Arctic Soul steps up.. Kitty King and Helen Dunning win the CIC's and Wynne nearly wins..
And then there were Three as Freddy moves on..

Another trip south for the team though NBR had actually stayed south following Blenheim so didn’t have as far to travel.

NBR had one entry in the CIC 1* with Arctic Soul entering his first FEI event.

I had driven south on the Friday and was staying nearby at a charming B&B Fir Tree House in Rodborough Common.

That allowed an early arrival on the Saturday ready for Arctic Soul’s dressage.

The weather was very good on the Saturday, and as a serial visitor to the Gatcombe event have become used to the locations of the various disciplines.

The ground was in pretty good condition too for the cross country, and although there was a Battle of Britain weekend at Kemble it didnt intrude. The cross country course provided the usual series of challenges for a number of horses with several fences on the novice and CIC courses catching riders out, and the time not being easy to achieve.

I was also tasked with gaining a few eventers autographs on a numnah to raise money for my colleagues Harry Philips Mid Surrey Pony Club to buy a field they have had access to for years before it is sold. It joins a list of items including several racing jockeys numnahs. More later on how that went but the nine signatories managed to win Badminton 13 times, Burghley 7 time , Kentucky 3 Times, Aachen once, and Luhmuhlen once (also once as a 3 star). Something to give Tony McCoy, and Richard Hanlon a good run for their money with their racing numnahs and that’s before the Olympic World and European medals tally, more of which below.

Gatcombe the event..

This was the first time for Arctic Soul at a bigger event and it did show in both his dressage and showjumping.

He worked in well early on the Saturday for the dressage, but in a bigger arena for the first time with a few distractions was a little tense.

He didn’t do anything wrong but his mark of 55.8 was a fair one, and a little more mileage will certainly help.


The showjumping on the Sunday morning was a similar case. Having walked the course I felt that he might be a little intimidated by the arena, and so it proved.

His warm up was fine but he was clearly distracted by the surroundings on entering the arena and promptly had the first two down. He then had one more before jumping very well in the latter part of the course. Again more experience of this type of atmosphere with the differeing array of jumps and surroundings will help.


Lying in the middle of the field Nicky just let him run round the cross country and he was excellent in this phase, only coming back with 9.6 time faults and when the accelerator pedal was pressed he responded extremely impressively. He ended up in 64th place with 77.8 faults, but certainly learnt from the experience. It also gives him his CCI qualifying result which sets us up well for next year.

The CIC 1* class was won by Kitty King on Zidante who had been lying near the lead after showjumping, but Pippa Funnell’s 8.8 time faults on Billy Beware had opened the door. The two star also saw a lead swap as Helen Dunning just pipped Lucy Wiegersma to second.

There was also an extremely tight finish to one of the Novice classes, with one second on the cross country course making all the difference.

Clayton Frederick’clear round inside the time on Brookton was just enough to edge out Michael Wynne by 0.3 of a mark on Zenith after he had 2.8 time faults—so close.

Still this was Zeniths best result to date and Rachel Wakefield was seen urging Zenith round the cross country course…not quite urging enough perhaps..

Clayton had more than one round inside the time including Lero Lero pictured below..


Next step for NBR will be a trip to the Rank wedding next week followed by Cherry Law and Inishmor competing at Osberton in the CCI2* and 4year old championships

There was also a slight detour on the way back north as Sarah Cohens lorry had expired and Nicky was able to help taxi back three horses that otherwise would have been stranded.

Back to the numnah

The eventers to have signed the numnah …and remember this is just a selection of those who were at Gatcombe 2 …

Lucinda Green, Mark Todd, Andrew Hoy, Clayton Fredricks, Pippa Funnell, Ruth Edge, Lucy Wiegersma, Sarah Cohen, and Zara Phillips with Nicky to be added.

That group also won a series of medals at top competitions (representing different countries).

Olympics: 2 individual gold, 3 team gold, 1 individual silver, 4 team silver, 2 individual bronze, 1 team bronze.

World Championships: 4 team Golds, 2 individual gold, one team bronze.

European championships: 6 individual gold, 7 team gold, 1 individual silver, 1 team silver, 1 bronze.

Also Young Riders European medals: 1 Team Gold, 1 Individual Silver, One Team Silver and 1 individual bronze..

That is in addition to the top events listed above.

It really emphasizes what a quality group of riders can be seen week in week out at events and how willing they are to help a good cause.

After the MS Fund raise organized by Rhona Elliot with three riders at our yard earlier this year again we are hugely appreciative to all riders who are happy to help.

And then there were three

This weekend also saw Freddy Curtis move on to a new home in the South of England and we will be watching to see his progress on the JRN circuit, something that we think he will be ideally suited to. That leaves Trig Point, Arctic Soul, and possibly Mistral (subject to his continued recovery remaining on track being the horses where I have ownership involvement in 2011)

There will be a season round up after the last event for the yard, and of course we have the BE Elections where I am one of nine candidates standing for three places due to properly get underway later in the autumn..


One also couldn’t leave without a picture of a 25 year old pony who was acting as a travel companion for a couple of eventers …a real character

Event owners Blog from Blenheim

Top Competition at a Top Event- Trig Point steps up a gear..

A first time trip to Blenheim as the blogging season nears a close and what a splendid event it was.
With work commitments I was only able to attend on the Saturday and the Sunday but there certainly wasn’t a dull moment.

I was staying in a delightful B&B in Deddington, the Old Post House, and also know a lot more about Equine Manual Lymphatic Drainage with one of the first people in the UK based there.

That’s another story and one that will be worth pursuing at another time.

The copious amount of information sent through meant that one was well informed before arrival at Blenheim. The arrangements for owners and VIP’s had been well thought out, and I was particularly impressed as a first timer, to see the effort being put in by the Fidelity team as title sponsors. The pavilion down by the water seemed a really clever idea and I hope they found the whole exercise as worthwhile as they seemed to. The weather also turned out much better than forecast adding to the occasion.

The curtailed time at the event meant that I didn’t spend quite as much time going round the huge array of tradestands, as I would normally, but the range was impressive. The lorry park was also extremely well laid out with excellent stabling facilities and catering for the riders was excellent. As I said before this was a first time visit and it left an extremely good impression.

NBR had one runner, Trig Point, in the CIC3* 8/9 Championships

He had one one advanced earlier in the year, and After the long CCi2* course at Blair that had been considerable debate as to whether we should run him.

The benefit of running the cross country last and the reasonable weather and ground allowed us to make the journey down.

I had missed the dressage and would love to have seen the setting.

Trig Point had an extremely creditable test for a first timer at 3* scoring 57.2 to leave him lying 28th. Again there seemed a considerable discrepancy between the marks, but this also seemed to be a more general topic of conversation rather than just being limited to him.


The Saturday saw the CCI3* cross country across a fabulous course, followed by the CiC3* show jumping.

The cross country course had some fabulous fences which had been beautifully crafted, but it certainly was a long walk. Given the design of the course it certainly wasn’t possible to see the whole course at once , but combining certain sections of the course with TV screens enabled one to get a pretty clear picture of how rounds were unfolding.

The clearest indication of how close a horse was going to get to the difficult optimum was how they tackled the section along the top of the hill (if they got that far). There were certainly problems in all parts of the course and the technical fences at the finish captured a few more who were going well but had started to tire.

Clear rounds inside the time were few and far between. Aoife Clarke had set a very good time fairly early and looked to be moving beautifully at the top of the hill was one of the only early ones to get round and she repeated the exercise later on . Andrew Nicholson also achieved two inside the time, with the others being from Piggy French and William Fox-Pitt. Parklane Hawk cruised round the course but it was deceptive and his round was enough to reverse the positioning with Ruth Edge after dressage, a lead that he didn’t surrender in the tense climax in the showjumping arena, which took place on the Sunday . It was also good to see both Clayton and Lucinda Fredericks appearing in the top ten after very good cross country rounds.

William and Lucinda are pictured below..

Attention switched to the Show Jumping arena for the CIC3* competition. After some minor issues with the course design because of screens and sight lines from fences we were ready to get underway, Christopher Bartle kindly came over to help work Trig point in and settled both horse and rider down. Trig Point was fourth in, and this was a completely different round to the one at Blair. The stumble after the first had clearly unsettled him , but we saw none of that this time. He was very unlucky to have the first of the treble down, and jumped otherwise what was clearly his best round of the season . Certainly the benefits of Mark Smiths training are paying off. We stayed to watch the rest of the showjumping, whilst keeping an eye and an ear on the High bar competition in the next door arena , which seemed to get to shirtless and saddleless in a couple of cases. Mark Todd said it was easier to ride without a shirt than without a saddle….

No pictures of that, but a picture of Trig Point from the professional photographer which clearly showed he meant business.

Cross Country for CIC3* was done on the Sunday Morning with 6m 45 second optimum.

It was run in reverse order and Trig Point was lying 30th overnight. One or two went out of order including Applejack the overnight leader who came home with 6.4 time faults to leave the door open for the final five. Trig Point looked on fabulous form and looked measured rather than being pushed, but when getting closer to the end of the course he was opened up and seemed to have a lot petrol still left in the tank while others at that stage were starting to wilt. Add to that that he only picked up 5.6 time faults with only 12 faster than him when we hadn’t been chasing the clock was really impressive. His recovery time was extremely fast and he also has come back sound. (we did have the random drug testing to cope with afterwards to calm things down)..

He ended up in 22nd place and also has now achieved his CCI3* qualifications in a class won by Mark Todd after an excellent round on Land Vision inside the time edged him ahead of Sarah Cohen and Treason. The CCI3* qualification was starting to look unlikely at one stage this season when we seemed to be running out of events. The way he finished the season and the stamina he has showed is extremely encouraging for next season, and we will now focus on autumn showjumping and some dressage.

So NBR stayed south and heads for Gatcombe CIC 1* with Arctic Soul for his last outing of the season, and that of the blog.

There may well be a trip to Osberton for Cherry Law in the 2* and Inishmor in the BE 4YO at the end of the month but I may be unable to attend.

There may not have been any points for the yard, but the trip to Blenheim was extremely worthwhile and I would hope it is on our agenda next year.

Congratulations and thanks to all involved in putting the event on. A real success and as an owner I had a fabulous time…

Eventing Blog From Blair..

A great occasion.. Good weather, good ground and great competition. Neuf de Cour, Huggy and Buzz lead the way - NBR gets points and prizes..

We trekked north of the Wednesday and were staying at the Killiecrankie Hotel run by Henrietta Ferguson.

It is increasingly becoming a house party for the four days of competition and as it turned out we had the owners of the CCI2* and 3* winners also staying.

The weather forecast was being watched closely and over the four day period we had a few heavy showers, (mostly outside competition time). Otherwise it was sunny and blustery and the ground was excellent for cross country.

There were also a continued range of entertainment both during the day and in the evening. A good range of trade stands were more widely spread around the three arenas, which I also think worked better. The owners car parking arrangements worked well and there was good access to the members area.

The new trot up area in the main arena also made things more convenient, though we didn’t have the chance to see any of them actually taking place.

Thanks to the whole organizing team for an excellent job, and for the rain staying away ..

NBR Entries

CCI1* - Stonedge

CCI2* - Cherry Law and Trig Point

Dressage..

Stonedge led off the CCI1* class as a trailblazer and did a reasonable test scoring 52.9 which as the competition wore on was to leave him in 36th place after the 90 horses had completed that phase. The difference in marking between the two judges in this phase had caused some comment, and this extended to both the 2* star and 3 star classes as the competition wore on.

Cherry Law was scored with a 63.9 and Trig Point scored a 54.7 to leave her in 15th equal, with a reasonable difference between the two marks and one that certainly looked overly harsh.

The judges were international and had been chosen from approved lists, but that didn’t seem to ease the feeling of disappointment that pervaded the lorry park after the dressage phase. The one thing that you know with Blair is that the competition isnt solely dependent on dressage. We were both pleased by the way that Trig Point had performed but were already looking to the cross country phase. The three are pictured below..

Cross Country..

After a scotch mist at the start of the one star the weather cleared and there was a dramatic series of cross country rounds in all classes on Ronald Alexanders well designed courses.

Stonedge acted as trailblazer He cruised round the cross country course and showed that in this discipline he certainly has matured. He moved up to 16th place after the cross country

There were a number of casualties and tired horses as the one star progressed. The picture was no different in the CIC3 and CCI3, before we got to the CCI2* with Cherry Law and Trig Point

Both produced magnificent rounds and were only just outside the optimum in their first 2* competition. The ground suited and with an optimum time of 9.21 this was significantly further than they had gone before so it was very encouraging to see them perform so well.

Stonedge took everything in his stride but Cherry law was slightly less sure of the ditch. Trig Point was on top form right the way round the course.

Showjumping..

After the successes at Scone the showjumping arena wasn’t as kind to the team. Stonedge had the second last down, and slipped a couple of places to 17th, bit still was in the prize money and picked up a couple of points. Cherry Law only had one pole, very reminiscent of the gate she knocked down in 2007, almost in the same position across the arena, and ended up in 16th as others also had faults. She picked up 5 points. Trig Point stumbled badly as he landed after the first and this clearly unsettled him. That was to take its toll later in the round when he had a line of three fences down before settling again for the finish. He had been lying 8th and slipped to 12th. As it turned out he would have gone no higher, but it was disappointing to slip out of the top ten.

He remained within the prize money and also picked up 13 points.

Stonedge and Cherry Law pictured above and Trig Point pictured below..

Around the classes..

There were several notable successes from the weekend. Wills Oakden had a great weekend picking up 90 points for his third with Jo Brown in the three star, and 4 points for 7th with Merikano, Debbie Whalley’s horse, in the one star picking up virtually every special prize along the way. They are pictured on their way to a clear round in the 1*.

The two star went to Hugginstown in a very tight finish to the showjumping with Matthew Wright virtually lifting the horse over several jumps to guarantee a victory. . The CIC 3* had already gone to Opposition Buzz who had flown round the course, with William Fox-Pitt taking second with Oslo, and Gemma tattersall, a brilliant 3rd on Kings Gem. The CCI3 was then won by William Fox-Pitt on Neuf de Cours to compete an excellent weekend. They are pictures below tackling the upper water.
The biggest shame was the lack of entries especially in the CCI3* where there were only eleven starters. The attention to detail around the course and the whole calibre of the event deserved more. The cross country was as challenging as ever at all levels.

For NBR the final tally was a 12th for Trig Point , a 16th for Cherry law and a 17th for Stonedge.

Points..

13 for Trig Point, 5 for Cherry Law and 2 for Stonedge making 20 for the yard increasing its total to 116.

Trig Point now moves onto 49 points for the year and 110 in total, with Stonedge now up to 33 and Cherry Law 23 taking her to 67 overall

Stonedge has now scored points in his last eight consecutive events a pretty impressive tally,

Next outings..

Burghley Young Event Horse for Inishmhor and Wattsburn

Blenheim 8/9 cic3 for Trig Point

Gatcombe CIC1* for Arctic Soul


The blog will look to resurface at Blenheim for the Saturday and Sunday if competing and the following weekend at Gatcombe.

Event Owners Blog from Scone..

Event Owners Blog from Scone... Stonedge Crowned scottish Novice Champion, Trig Point storms to victory in the CIC2* , Cherry Law gets 3rd and upgrades , Eventers charity display for MS..

An extraordinary weekend at Scone, which certainly made up for the disappointment of missing Gatcombe, and this time we were blessed with extraordinary weather. Having seen heavy rain in August for prior events James and his excellent team were due a good weather weekend and they certainly got that. The ground was firmer than we might have expected given rain in the week but rode extremely well and contributed to some very good times cross country. The competition was excellent all weekend and as ever at Scone each of the disciplines brought their own challenges. We also were staying up in the hills above Dunkeld with family overnight on the Saturday so didn’t have far to travel to return on the Sunday. Given the number of entries Nicky was stabled at Howe Equestrian centre but that still meant an early start on Sunday for dressage just after 8.

The cross country was back to being done the conventional way after being reversed early in the year, and as one would expect from an Ian Stark course set a number of challenges for the higher classes. The showjumping as always was a firm challenge and we were fortunate that Mark Smith, who had given a rigorous training session earlier in the week was able to come on the Sunday. He did take quite a long time walking the course and came back fairly thoughtful noting the number of questions that Colin Hexley had asked. But more of that later..

Also on Tuesday evening at Westerhouses three Scottish Young Rider European medalists put on a display compered by Les Smith for MS Racing and event coordinated by Rhona Elliott

Nicky Roncoroni, Emily Galbraith and Sarra Mayberry all put on a terrific display in front of more than 100 people.

but again more of that later...

Back to the main event..

NBR entries

Wattsburn – BE100

Arctic Soul- Saturday Novice

Freddy Curtis – Intermediate Novice

Stonedge – Scottish Novice Championship

Cherry Law – Intermediate

Trig Point – CIC2*

Wattsburn started the ball rolling on Saturday, but was a little disappointing in the dressage and somewhat distracted. It was an improvement on his dressage here earlier in the year but left him too far off the pace to catch up. He jumped beautifully in the Showjumping going clear and he only incurred 0.8 time faults cross country again putting in a good performance which moved him up to 11th just outside the placings. He did pick up 2 foundation points to increase his total for the year to 24.


Arctic Soul was next up, and was slightly tense but again produced a sound test to score 32.5 his fourth novice test between 30 and 35. He was really unlucky in the showjumping to roll a pole, this being a much better round than at Aston, and he picked up 2 time penalties cross country, whith the technical nature of the course not quite allowing him to flow. Nevertheless he was able to move into fifth and picked up two points, to take his score to three. Next for him looks to be the One star at Gatcombe.


On the Sunday there were four competing and were interspersed amongst each other with a relentless period in the middle of the day.

Freddy, who hadn’t been out since Eglington and hadn’t done cross country since Burgie clearly showed his excitement at his return to competition after a gap

His dressage score of 43.2 was followed uncharacteristically by three down in the showjumping. As it turned out noone at all went clear in his class. He then had a controlled cross country round with Nicky choosing to pace him steadily . nevertheless it was enough to earn him seventh place and a welcome return to the placings.

The Scottish Novice Championship was also run as an Intermediate Novice and was over the same showjumping track , but that was done in reverse order with the showjumping to finish.

Stonedge had started with an impressive dressage to lead, and then had looked very impressive cross country but had actually managed to incur 1.2 reverse time faults cross country which meant he was lying second coming into the final discipline. As in the previous class clear rounds were almost impossible to find. Jacaranda Prince ridden by Suzannah Brownlie produced a simply amazing clear round, with the rider having the sense to let him make any adjustments necessary. He had done exactly the same at Hendersyde the week before, and it was seriously impressive to see him lay down the gauntlet. He marched his way up the field as rider after rider had fences down, and ended up in third. Stonedge came into the ring second last to go and produced an imperious clear round, which meant that the final rider had to go clear to win. The first and second fences both went, leaving Stonedge as the winner of the class and ready to go to Blair in the CCI*.He also picks up 6 points.

The CIC2* was Trig point’s challenge after the disappointment of missing Gatcombe and he set out to impress. His dressage was very good scoring a 44.7 which was enough to put him in the lead by a couple of marks ahead of Matthew Wright’s Well Spotted. The showjumping proved no less tricky for this class but Trig Point was able to produce a fabulous clear round to maintain his advantage going into the Cross Country phase. Having heard comment that Matthew might be trying to save Well Spotted for Burghley, a quick look at the tail of the horse after the first indicated that this was going to be some round, and 17 seconds inside the time allowed duly followed. Trig Point wasn’t going to miss out and responded simply fantastic cross country round inside the time was enough to hold onto first place. The FEI steward (following from the top of the course ) actually managed to see more of the round than I did, telling me to run faster.

He picked up 16 points, Prize Money and the rider gets a weekend at Kinloch House which I am sure she will take up.

The day wasn’t quite over though and Cherry Law was yet to complete her competition. Her dressage of 38.2 had left her in around 7th, but yet again another excellent showjumping round followed, one of only three in the class. She then produced the only cross country round inside the time which was enough to move her to third place. Her eight points is enough to move her to 62 points and a Grade 1 classification.

A pretty spectacular weekend whichever way one looks at it.

Producing four clear rounds out of six jumped in Colin Hexley courses is pretty unusual, and thanks again must go to Mark Smith who clearly has made a difference again.

Three cross country rounds were inside the time and only Freddy who was deliberately taken slower was off the pace and in the dressage arena, four of the six produced very good tests.

Five of the six came back with ribbons.

Stonedge the Young Pretender was crowned at Scone, but there is no way that Trig Point wasn’t going to give him a good run for his money for the NBR Horse of the Event

Two professional pictures to show them in their glory.

Points 32..

Trig Point 16, Cherry law 8, Stonedge 6, Arctic Soul 2

Foundation Points

Watts Burn 2

Total For the year

The total for the year has now moved onto 96 from 64

Trig Point has 36, Stonedge 31, Cherry Law 18, Fiddlewood 6, Arctic Soul 3, Rare Hero 2

Foundation points 65

Arctic Soul 31, WattsBurn 24, Inishmhor 8, Stonedge 2

Update since the last Blog

Inishmhor had won his BE4yo qualifier picking up 8 foundation points, and rare hero had come 17th in an Intermediate Novice with WattsBurn 8th in a 5Year old class

Diary

Blair – Trig point and Cherry Law – CCI2* Stonedge-CCI*

Burghley Young Event Horse Final InishMhor 4year old, Wattsburn 5Year old

Blenheim Trig Point 8/9 year old Championships CIC3*

Gatcombe- ballot day looms so entries tbc

Next blog – Blair

MS Charity Eventing Evening

Westerhouses was delighted to host a MS Racing charity fundraiser on Tuesday evening, an event organized by Rhona Elliott.

We were blessed by good weather and a huge effort had been put in to make it successful.

Over 100 people turned up to watch Sarra Mayberry on Tommy Pink and Emily Galbraith on Timing being put through jumping paces by Les Smith, with Nicky Roncoroni and Trig point then being worked through a 3* star dressage test. The Hog Roast to finish capped an excellent evening. Thanks to everyone who worked so hard to make it a success with a significant amount being raised.. The three participants are pictured below..

Semper Porro, (always onwards), the NBR motto, seems an apt way to bring this to a close..

Event Owners Blog - Advancing at Aston...

Trig Point's First Advanced, Arctic Soul upgrades, Stonedge hits the podium again..

Having missed a couple of events through holiday before getting to Aston we should catch up briefly with results from Aske and Eglington.

At Aske Cherry law came 10th in and Intermediate and Trig Point was 19th in an OI. The following week at Eglington Cherry law stormed to third in an Intermediate picking up 8 points, Stonedge fired himself to second in the Novice picking up 5 points and an upgrade to Grade 2, and Arctic Soul impressed at Novice though took time over the cross country with some longer alternatives.

That took the yard to 59 points ahead of Aston.

This was the first time I had been to Aston and what an excellent viewing platform for the advanced cross country, and what a field to see.

That is getting a little ahead of myself, and I will get there in due course.

I drove down in the Thursday with Nicky going down for pathway training the day before and stayed at Colledges in Staverton, only 10 miles away and a very pleasant B&B.

The entries

Novice –Arctic Soul and Stonedge

8/9 Year old Advanced- Trig Point

There were over 80 in Trig Point’s class and more than half the Advanced Horses in the Country were in evidence across the advanced entries with riders coming from as far as Aberdeen.

There will only be two advanced competitions north of York in 2010, with both being in Ayrshire. One hopes that there can be a few more in 2011. It was good to catch up with a number of riders and owners that we hadn’t seen since early spring, and after this weekends result we hope to be seeing more of them.

The Novices competed on Friday, with Trig point’s dressage on Friday and the rest of his competition on Saturday.

The Showjumping white board I had heard a lot about and it was interesting to see it in practice.

There appeared to be absolutely no problems whatsoever in the arena in the two days that I was there, and the multiple riders were slotted in in a way that was easy to understand, (and there were a number of them to cope with). After each set of five horses there is a multiple rider box, to allow them to slot in. This seems to work very well.

Cross country

The cross country viewing was excellent for the advanced with only fences 8-12 not being visible from the viewing mound for the advanced.

The Novice did require a little more running to see the course. There was also some difficulty with the first water where a number of riders came unstuck. Fortunately both the NBR horses handled it comfortably.

The dressage arena did seem somewhat remote, and may have contributed to the somewhat sluggish arrival of the scores. They were painfully slow in arriving and on the first day of competition the prize givings were held without the sponsors, which seemed a shame, and the final scores in the advanced dressage test were actually seen being filled in by the judge who was helping out.

That was only thing that really marred what was otherwise an excellent opportunity to view top riders.

Novices

Arctic Soul was first up, and after a very very long walk to the dressage arena (which might be one of the reasons why the scores were a little slow returning).

There were around 100 horses warming up when he appeared, clearly not ideal warm up conditions, and Nicky had to play a percentage game given his tendency to get a little fragile in the past. As it turned out he got a very respectable 34.5. His showjumping was tidy in the main but did manage to knock a couple of poles, which were easy to knock down. However his cross country round was simply excellent and a dabble on the accelerator pedal after the fourth saw him eating up the ground, and getting admiring looks as he motored to an optimum time. There were only a very few novice clears inside the time, and for Spike to do this in what was only his third outing at the distance was impressive. He also didn’t look particularly stretched. Lots more in the tank.

Stonedge who had just been upgraded was competing for the last time at Novice, and certainly wasn’t cooperating in the dressage arena, and was lying 20th with a poor 39.5. However things changed in the showjumping with a sparkling clear, and he capped that with a another excellent cross country round inside the time to finish third. An impressive finish to his Novice career and is clearly ready to move up a grade.

Advanced

Trig Point had also begun his class with an impressive dressage which left him lying 14th. In his class the dressage was on an all weather surface.

The showjumping was to prove the discipline that caused major problems, and it was extremely easy to find four faults turning into 24..

There were a number of horses who missed out on qualifying scores as a result, and any tap of the poles proved extremely expensive.

He didn’t jump badly but inexperience at this level brought three taps and three fences down, and so he moved onto cross country with an additional 12.

For this run Nicky didn’t wear a watch and let him gradually wind up the pace. He looked very impressive and came home with 10.8 time faults in 6.29 and ended up in a creditable 27th.

Importantly it gave a qualifying result for Blenheim 8/9 CIC3* should everything go all right in the intervening events.

Also congratulations to Nicky on completing her first advanced event for 6 years.. we hope for many more.

The cross country time wasn’t achieved by many but Andrew Nicholson put in a string of excellent rounds peppering the optimum time. With such a good viewing course and a stopwatch it was easy to see where the time was made up. He is pictured here tackling the steps.

Lucy Jackson was one of the best through the combination at 16, something that both surprised and pleased her immensely.

A number of others caught the eye and with half the advanced horses in the country registered and virtually all the top riders it made for a fascinating days viewing.

It was good to see Gemma Tattersall winning the Under 25 class with another accomplished performance on Kings Gem, who showed no sign of any lack of concentration, while a number of other younger riders came unstuck just towards the end of the round. Angus Smales must also be commended on his string of clear rounds in the showjumping. That wasn’t easy to achieve.


Overall an encouraging weekend and an important barrier crossed.

The yard gleaned another 5 points to move up to 64, but also gained important qualifying scores. Stonedge now with 25 points heads away from Novice, and Arctic Soul has become a Grade 3.


Overall Totals for the year so far..

Stonedge 25

Trig Point 20

Cherry Law 10

Fiddlewood 6

Rare Hero 2

Arctic Soul 1


Where next

Strathallan sees Watts Burn, Rare Hero and InishMhor compete in the 5yo, Intermediate Novice and the 4yo (and possibly freddy who is back with Nicky)

Gatcombe sees Trig Point entered for the Intermediate Championship Finals

Scone – although the entries aren’t confirmed yet, looks like 5 or 6 horses heading up to James Oakden’s event

Blair – not entered yet but looks to be Stonedge and Trig Point

Burghley Young Horse Finals – Inishmhor and Watts Burn both qualified


The blog should return for Gatcombe..

Eventing Blog From Hexham

An outstanding weekend..
Trig Point a very impressive second in the OI, Arctic Soul storms to victory, Cherry Law places, and Freddy does a double clear..

Hexham proved to be one of those weekends where the jigsaw came together and the horses competing seemed to want to out do each other.

The result was an outstanding weekend, and although one must always remember that horses can be great levelers, when I get asked why or how I have managed to get involved with the sport, it is weekends like this that make it very worthwhile.

The blog will be taking a little break as a combination of holidays and other events means that I will be missing potential entries at Burgie, Aske and Eglington with the next outing a possible first time visit to Aston-le-Walls.

The NBR entries this weekend were:

Cherry Law – Intermediate

Trig Point – Open Intermediate

Arctic Soul – BE100

The weather on Saturday was lovely and sunny, but Arctic Soul’s competition was split, with showjumping and Cross country on a rainier Sunday.

Photos this time are courtesy of Photo-Synergy

Dressage competitions all took place first, with Cherry Law, doing a 37.7 to kick things off in her Intermediate Class . Trig Point then produced an excellent Intermediate 117 test in what was an extremely competitive Open Intermediate class, producing one of his best with a 30. This left him lying fifth behind Oliver Townend on Master Rose, Ruth Edge, Caroline Powell, and Piggy French. He really did look on song. This was then followed by Arctic Soul producing his best test of the season, a 25.5, which also left him in 5th. The range of marks in his test was quite extraordinary ranging for 18.5 to well over 50.

The showjumping was simply outstanding from all. Cherry Law’s round left all the connections barely able to breathe, and Nicky simply had to sit very tight, as this was one of the fastest rounds that I have ever seen Nicky ride. The mare is extraordinarily clever and never looked ready to have one down, but trying to hold her back on this form simply wasn’t an option,

Trig Point approached his round in more measured style and produced an excellent clear, despite some distractions that could have been critical, as the last fence took an age to rebuild after a previous rider, and the planks were still being waved around as Trig Point was tackling the measured distance between the fourth and the fifth. (more staff on fence repair?). His ears flickered but he kept his composure.

Arctic Soul’s round didn’t take place till the Sunday but he showed absolutely no sign of wanting to touch a pole, for a brilliant clear, and is definitely ready to move up to Novice.



With three sparkling clears Mark Smiths good groundwork continues to pay off, and we must be due another series of lessons to keep up the momentum .

Cross Country – Another amazing set of rides on a fairly tricky course which did cause considerable problems. The ground was good, and it allowed galloping horses to perform, though from a spectators perspective the hill towards the end is a real tester if one is trying to see the finish.

Cherry Law was the first out of the stalls and stormed around in 6.04 gliding across the ground, and moved her up to 8th. This was a polished performance and also was an extremely good trailblazer for the horses to follow. This was close to being too fast, but the double clear earns her 2 points and mover her onto 46.

Trig Point was lying fourth after showjumping and not having competed since Auchinleck, Nicky was going to take steady at the start and gradually crank up the pace. I was half way round the course for the upper loop and could see the gears comfortably being worked through and by the tenth he was really flowing. There had been a nasty moment at the 9th, a very large Trakhener, where a lose dog had managed to get right under the fence just as the previous horse had approached. The rider had no option but to pull out of the fence, and the dog fortunately was captured before Nicky appeared. By the time I had made it down the hill onto the flat Trig Point was almost round the lower field, absolutely flying, and heading up the other side. His time of 6.12 was well inside the optimum, and was a sparkling return to the form he showed at Gatcombe last year. ODT Master Rose was never going to relinquish first, but the second place is an outstanding result, with 10 points and some prize money as well.

Arctic Soul faced entirely different weather conditions for his round with steady, if light rain, that did require care. He was also lying fourth after Showjumping and was one of the last to go so we had the benefit of knowing where the others had finished. The leader had had 8.5 time faults leaving them on 26.9, the horse that had been lying second had a refusal and the third placed horse 0.5 marks ahead was eliminated for an error of course. A clear round inside the time would bring victory, but too slow, or too fast (given that the previous two rounds were inside the time on intermediates, and he is an ex racehorse) would lead to him missing out. He produced a stunning round again increasing the pace as he went, and came in with 5.17, well inside the optimum but not too fast to trigger faults at BE 100 .. He gained a well deserved victory and rounds off his campaign at BE100 level. He gains another 10 foundation points, and a little prize money, but not enough to cover the entry. There was also a free fitness assessment for the rider as a prize , so we will be awaiting news of how that goes. I particularly enjoyed seeing him as he motored over the Spalding corner with lots to spare.

Also this weekend marked the first opportunity for Emily Galbraith to ride Freddy Curtis for myself and Nicky so marked the debut of NBR in an owning capacity for another rider with Freddy riding an HC Novice .The aim remains to sell Freddy and we both thought a different rider might prove interesting and show his versatility.

He didn’t disappoint with a steady 38.6 in the dressage, an impressive clear in the showjumping, and a very good cross country round as the partnership familiarized themselves.

This would have left him 7th and very pleasing start for everyone involved.

This proved a very successful start, and the next step is a CIC* at Burgie where he will come up against Rare Hero, followed by a run at Eglington should things go well.

Other news around the park

Good to see Kirsty Brewis getting a podium on Harbour Lights, one that we have been watching this season. Her mothers error of course prevented a similar finish.

James Oakden continued his points gathering exercise with another one for Lady, continuing to make steady progress round the cross country course. No picture this time as I had to be in three places at once…

It was good to see my ex colleague Steven Trowbridge make the long drive north with his daughter Kate, as they bring L’Espoir de Corbou back from and enforced break, and Chequers Playboy also on good form for Dee Hankey.

Also I noticed at Oatridge that Sarah Finlayson came fifth with another double clear, so continued progress there as her eventing career progresses.

The event was well organized as ever and thanks to all involved.

The Summary for NBR

2 dressage scores 70% and above

3 clear showjumping rounds

3 cross country rounds inside the time.

One first, a second and an eighth.

12 BE Points and 10 Foundation points

Trig Point 10 points, making 20 for the year and 81 overall

Cherry Law 2 points, her first for the year . Taking her to 46

Arctic Soul – 10 foundation Points – taking him to 31 Foundation points

Yard total moves to 37 BE points and 48 Foundation Points

Next outing for the Yard

Burgie

Arctic Soul – Novice for the First Time (up against a select field including Stonedge) and where he started eventing a year ago

Stonedge – Novice

WattsBurn – BE100

Rare Hero – CIC*

Inishmhor also going up for the experience and a BE Young Event Horse

Also Freddy Curtis will appear in the CIC* for his second outing with Emily Galbraith on board

Sadly I will miss Burgie , after a very enjoyable event last year and will be chomping at the bit to return.

Event Owners Blog from Floors

A hot weekend.. Wattsburn Wins, Stonedge Points and a Podium, Arctic Soul Placed - Irish horses leads the NBR charge..

Two days of scintillating weather, with the temperature reaching the mid 20’s.

Fortunately Floors is our local event so we didn’t have to travel very far in the heat, though there was an early start on both days.

Another cracking event organized by Jamie Innes and his crew and there were many familiar faces over the two days.

I still think this setting has tremendous scope for greater use… and some of the pictures simply highlight the appeal.

Everything seemed to run fairly smoothly, with no major issues, and it was good to see the ice cream van and bottled water sales getting the edge over coffee and other hot drinks.

The dressage arenas were well laid out but the scoring seemed somewhat higher than at recent events, and we did have the slightly bizarre sight of Rare hero getting the lowest dressage score of any of the NBR horses and the lowest dressage score he has ever received of 32.5. Arctic Soul produced his best test of the season but yet scored one of his highest marks with a 37.5.

There were several comments around the lorry park about the vagueries of the scoring , but it didn’t detract from an enjoyable weekend.

The other controversy came in the BE100 cross country where a cunningly placed fence 18 caught out a number of riders. The normal route to the finish from previous years had been changed and the slight detour was enough to throw people. On walking the course no fewer than four riders who were on the course at he same time all walked the wrong course, and several only discovered once they got to the end of their walk. There were a number who ended up eliminated. (despite the best efforts in one case to explain where the fence was)

We also must thank Daniella Page, a budding young eventer, who helped the NBR Team out very effectively over the two days.

NBR Entries

Saturday

Arctic Soul and Wattsburn- BE100

Rare Hero – Novice (HC)

Sunday

Stonedge – Novice,

Freddy Curtis – Intemediate Novice

Cherry Law –Intermediate.

Saturday started with Arctic Soul being first on in the Dressage test, and I didn’t think his core of 37.5 was representative of the test he had done, compared with his more recent performances. This to our mind was his best test of the year. His showjumping was very good, and the extra work from Mark Smith again looks to have paid dividends, with another clear. He simply motored round the cross country course, finishing easily inside the time, and his huge stride simply eats up the ground. He finished a creditable sixth and collects another 5 foundation points to take him to 21. He is also ready to move to novice, and that move is likely to happen in one of the next two events. His last four results have been 4th, 9th, 2nd and 6th, setting a good trend.

Wattsburn was the next one up, and he produced and excellent dressage test of 33.0. That was followed by a clear in the showjumping, and although a little greener than Arctic Soul and two years younger only picked up 1.6 time faults leaving him 7 points clear of the rest of the field. So ten foundation points for him and a big boost for the new joint owners Lorna McWilliam and Harry Phillips who have joined Janey Roncoroni as part owners.

Then the grey beast Rare Hero made his first outing for over a year. He was competing HC in the Novice class and began with the best dressage score he has ever achieved, a 32.5 following Ruth Edge into the arena. His showjumping was a little ragged knocking three poles down, but he breezed around the cross country course with only a few time faults. Nice to have him back on the squad, and providing he stays sound he might be routed next to Burgie.

Sunday was slightly less sunny but also a lack of wind so if anything it was more humid

NBR had three more runners with Stonedge up first. His dressage wasn’t anything special with a 39 but he made up for it with an excellent clear round showjumping, and then followed it with a blistering cross country display, to finish only 1 second over the time. This was enough to take him into second place and picking up 5 points,

Next out were Freddy Curtis and Cherry Law, and Freddy was true to form in his third outing of the season this tine in an intermediate novice . Very uncooperative in the warm up with the cross country nearby and his first minute was very tricky, after that he actually showed some very nice paces, though the rider might not have believed it and he scored a 36.4. His showjumping was the best this year and was unlucky to have one down. He then did a good cross country round only being 10 seconds over the time. His next outing will be at hexham with a planned change of jockey to Emily Galbraith, and she may take him back to Novice HC depending on how she gets on with acclimatization.

Cherry Law had a slightly higher dressage score in the Intermediate section, and rolled two poles. It could have been three but for a particularly clever bit of jumping at the last.

Her cross country round was as impressive as ever and she only picked up 3.6 time faults,
Both of them finished just outside the places in their respective classes.

Round the Lorry Park
Several riders to catch up with ..

There were good performances from the Agnews with both Charlotte and Al seen several times.

It must have been particularly pleasing for Charlotte to get her finals out of the way, and she returned to form with a seriously impressive performance on Pavonita.

James Oakden “ambled “ to another point for a double clear on Lady, blaming his grey hair for not being quicker… (Ian Stark has a lot of grey hair)

And Dee Hankey was very pleased with her two outings, with Chequers Toyboy pictured below, though she had decided not to press on the cross country, after a scintillating 26.5 dressage.

NBR…

Points for the Yard

Stonedge 5, taking him to 10 and the yard to 26.

Foundation Points

Wattsburn 10 and Arctic Soul 5 , taking the yard total to 38,

Next outings..

Hexham

Arctic Soul, Trig Point (possibly), Cherry law, and Freddy Curtis (with Nicky as part owner rather than rider )

Burgie

Several planned with entries due later in the week.