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
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…
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.
