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.
Its back... Podiums, Placings and Points.. Arctic Soul and Stonedge lead the charge..
This was my first trip to Auchinleck to see competition actually take place with the previous attempt washed away in a July monsoon and it was well worth waiting for.
The change of date did prove a success though the ground if anything was a little hard in places.
After three years of cancellations it was good to see all the effort actually being rewarded with two days of excellent competition.
A couple of things will need tweaking but this was a sound competitive test across the disciplines, and the cross country course was as challenging as one might have expected through all the classes.
The showjumping track was perhaps too much of a wide expanse, and classes did tend to overrun a little, but that can clearly be tightened up next year, and in the cross-country the diggers are already moving in to make alterations to the exit of the second water where the exit bank proved a little steep on an awkward distance.
The weather was very kind to the extent that I was asked on returning if I had been abroad.
NBR had no fewer than six entries
Trig Point – Open Intermediate
Freddy Curtis – Novice (HC)
Fiddlewood and Stonedge – Novice
Arctic Soul and Wattsburn – BE100
Saturday
We started with the Open Intermediate and Trig Point.
The dressage was in another slightly sloping arena on a hardish surface and after a frost overnight making it slightly slippy.
He was in after a very impressive test by Piggy French on Jakata and came back with a 33.6
His showjumping was extremely good and the best we have seen for some time and credit to the technical work put in by Mark Smith.
He then went clear cross country, though he did have a minor disagreement again going round the course without being anywhere near a fence, which was slightly costly on time (around 8 time faults) and a little tedious. He jumped the rest of the course well, and as his next outing will be at Tattersals he was using this as a pipe-opener rather than one at full pace and ended up with 14 time faults leaving him in the mid teens. Nevertheless he came back with two points for a double clear and the second time in a row he has jumped all the obstacles clear. Lets hope we can keep the momentum going.
Novice
Freddy Curtis, Fiddlewood and Stonedge.
Freddy Curtis dropped down to Novice (HC) as it was felt after Scone he needed another outing to clear some of the cobweb and acted as a trailblazer.
Looking at his first three events of last season the pattern seems similar with highish dressage scores over 40 , the odd fence down and a time faults cross country. He then improved significantly as the season wore on .Certainly he was extremely strong in the dressage arena and scored a 47 and jumped well in the showjumping after a mis-communication at the third. He was much more comfortable cross country and cruised round with 8.8 time faults and seemed in his element. Next up for him will be an Intermediate Novice at Floors. Prompted by Nicky we are considering a change of rider and may have more on the subject next time round.
Fiddlewood produced a good Dressage of 33.0 and he was unfortunate to knock one down in the Showjumping. He then produced a blistering cross country round coming home with 1.6 time faults which allowed him to come home sixth and score another point.
The excitement for the day wasn’t over there, as Stonedge had also produced an excellent dressage of 31 and had also has one down jumping but jumped brilliantly otherwise,. He also embarked on another excellent cross country round and was only just slower than Fiddlewood with 3.6 time faults. This was enough to take him into third and picked up four points.
Pictured jumping the sixth …
Sunday
The younger horses had their chance to perform and they certainly didn’t let the side down
Arctic Soul and Wattsburn were both in the BE100.
Arctic Soul was first out and was in the same arena as Trig Point the day before.
A quieter dressage warm up area and a sound test of 32 was followed by an impressive clear in the showjumping left him in the mix.
He then produced an excellent cross country round to pick up only 0.4 of a time fault which was enough to lift him into second place The acceleration he offers is seriously impressive and something to look forward to as he moves up the grades, and he looks set to take the step to Novice in the near future.
He simply stormed up the hill to the finish as though it wasn’t there….He picks up a further 9 foundation points to make 16 for the season so far.
Wattsburn had also made the step up to BE100 for the first time and in complete contrast to his display at Scone produced an excellent 30.5 and really looked the part.
His showjumping was also excellent going round clear and he showed good form throughout as pictured below..
The aim was them to get hime round the cross country clear, and this was achieved in some style as he came back with 7.6 time faults to finish an extremely creditable 6th also getting 5 foundation points.
An extremely encouraging start for the new owners who have joined Janey.
Other news from the park.
Sarah Finlayson’s Bellindene Norman, featured last time in the blog, came in third in its BE90 to get another 6 foundation points making 14 for the year. Next stop for them Oatridge.
James Oakden had another interesting outing with Lady picking up a point for another double clear. It was slightly surprising to see him turn up to the dressage without a number.
It was even more surprising when he discovered that someone else was already wearing his number, had signed in and was warming up, and this was the moment that James saw where he was.
Somehow James Adam’s had managed to pick up 277 rather than 227, and an exchange was made before any more confusion arose.
The cross country provided a suitable challenge in all classes with the second water providing one of the main focus points, but there were plenty of other questions asked at various parts of the course as can be seen from the results. Overall this was a very favourable return to the calendar for Auchinleck and we look forward to returning to the event next year.
Points for NBR
Stonedge 4, Trig Point 2 and Fiddlewood 1
Total for the Year 21
Trig Point 10, Fiddlewood 6, Stonedge 5
Foundation Points
Arctic Soul 9 , Wattsburn 5
Total for the Year 23
Arctic Soul 16, Wattsburn 5, Stonedge 2
Next outing
Floors Castle
Cherry Law – Intermediate
Freddy Curtis – Interim-Novice
Rare Hero – Novice (HC)
Stonedge –Novice
Arctic Soul, Watts Burn- BE100
Tattersals
Trig Point – CCI2*
Fiddlewood – CCI1*
Podium for Trig Point, and places for Cherry Law and Arctic Soul.. Freddy's back -- keeping an eye on Finlayson..
Another eventful weekend at Scone, with a very entertaining two days. The blog has been delayed for a few days as I have been travelling around Britain.
The contrast in the conditions over the two days was fairly dramatic and those certainly presented some real challenges as the event wore on.
The organising team led by James Oakden did a tremendous job in the very differing conditions, and there is no reason why it couldn’t host an Advanced event, something that Scotland is short of. The variety offered by the reverse running certainly added a new dimension to what is an attractive event, though the course wasn’t any easier as can be judged from the results. A very fair challenge.
NBR Runners
Saturday
Arctic Soul, BE 90, Wattsburn- Intro
Sunday
Cherry Law, Freddy Curtis - Open Novice
Trig Point – Open Intermediate
This was the first outing for Wattsburn, Cherry Law, and Freddy, and with Arctic Soul not having been out since Lincoln it also seemed as though it was a season start
The Saturday saw excellent weather for the younger horses and this was the first time that I had seen the course reversed, something that I think worked extremely well.
The ground was in excellent condition, and it was interesting to see how the young horses were able to handle the cross country.
Wattsburn undoubtedly was a little enthusiastic in the dressage, and also managed to knock three fences down when he lost concentration after what was a good start to his round.
He was very impressive across the cross country and ended up in 15th place.
Arctic Soul also was a little excitable ahead of each discipline, and I was wondering whether he might not actually hold it together in the dressage arena. He actually scored a reasonable 34.5 and managed to knock one down in the showjumping, before coming home clear in the cross country with 5.2 time faults to finish up 9th.
Sundays weather was in contrast with persistent rain with a drier spell in the middle of the day.
However the ground conditions became much tougher as the day wore on noticeable affecting the senior classes
Open Novices
Cherry Law produced an average dressage, before producing an excellent double clear. She was perfect in the showjumping and then was one of only two horses in all the novice classes to go round the cross country course inside the time. This enabled her to finish a very creditable fifth.
Freddy Curtis
Freddy was also back on the competition circuit for the first time since September and was clearly excited to be back. He improved as last season went on, but this was a very encouraging first outing. He was tense in the dressage, and was very unlucky to knock the last down in the showjumping arena, He was also steady paced around the cross-country course though clearly enthusiastic and occasionally gave himself some big jumps. He finished a steady 19th.
Trig Point
Trig Point didn’t have the best of the conditions for his competition. His dressage at 32.7 included one break but otherwise was very sound.
The rain came on heavily in the showjumping and he jumped extremely well clearing everything including all the combinations, and with some extra technical practice going in at home that looks to have paid off on this occasion. However he had a very strange nap between the six and seventh which earned him a disobedience and five time faults..
Looking at the slow motion and looking around the arena there were two very garish umbrellas that just happened to be in the sight line of the fence from the point he had reached. Obviously this was pretty unusual but the fact he jumped clear in tough ground was very encouraging.
By the time he got to the cross country ground conditions were a lot worse than earlier in the day. He jumped very well but after another minor disagreement half way round, which I happened to be right beside, he came home with 23.4 time faults. Others actually did worse so he came home a surprising third and collected 8 points but we can dwell on what might have been. He hadn’t had a cross country round since Burnham market so this was clearly needed, and I feel is has a big performance bubbling under
He is pictured below on the entry to the water.
One to watch
Plenty of action in the 2* with lots of familiar names but my one to watch this time comes from right at the other end of the competitive picture
Sarah Finlayson who I came across at the admissions department at Loretto, where Iona is heading next, had a storming performance in the BE90 for a first outing, with a fabulous cross country round to finish . After a win at their only BE 80 last year this is now followed by a win at her first BE90 on Bellindene Norman.
Next stop for them is Auchinleck and we will be keeping any eye out to see how they get on..
NBR points
Trig Point 8 .. taking the total to 14 for the year so far.
Next outings
Auchinleck – 6 entered
WattsBurn and Arctic Soul - BE100
Fiddlewood and Stonedge –Novice
Freddy Curtis - Intermediate
Trig Point – Open Intermediate
Cherry law then is set to join four of the others at Floors, whilst Trig Point and Fiddlewood have been entered for Tattersalls in the CCI2* and CCI1* respectively.
