Sams latest blog

Once again, this month has just flown by and it is unbelievable to think that we are more than half way through the season and Burghley is fast approaching! Anyway, there's been no time to worry about that as we have had a busy eventing schedule and lots of changes and improvements going on at home. We'll start with the eventing...the big event in July and probably the most stunning event on the calendar was Barbury. This event is a 'cut above' with outstanding old turf and a really exciting atmosphere so we always try and get as many runners as possible over the weekend. We had our little 4 year old doing the 4 year old young event horse class, he went brilliantly but missed qualifying for Burghley by one point! (We are hoping to get him qualified at Gatcombe). We also had Mumbo Jumbo running in a Novice class, in which he came a very promising 4th place. Real Dancer did his first CIC** and flew around so he is now qualified for a CCI** and we are thinking of making a trip to France to Ligniere CCI** in the Autumn. Motion Bound, our extremely exciting young horse, was 8th in the CIC**, in which Penton Raptor also competed but was not so competitive and finally, Danaan Prince ran in the CIC***, and despite this very dodgy moment, (see picture!) went incredibly well and has now got another clear three star run under his belt. He will now definitely be aimed at Blenheim.

After three exhausting days at Barbury there was no rest day for Sam as the following Monday he took Happy Times for his first run back since Badminton to do the Open Intermediate class at Tweseldown. Happy was obviously feeling very good about himself and apparently now thinks he is far too grown up for OI runs and behaved very stupidly in his dressage!! But then jumped a good SJ round with just one down and a super clear XC. So although he was not competitive that day, he certainly told us he was ready to crack on with the rest of the season!

It was then off for a wet weekend at Stockland Lovell (now one of our more local events) with three novice horses - they all went incredibly well with Hatters Hill finishing 6th, Summer Heat (a lovely new ride for Sam) finishing 7th and Real Dancer, who was just having a confidence boosting round after Barbury, finishing 8th. So a very successful weekend.

The last event of the month was the Advanced at Aston le Walls. We took three Advanced horses up to Aston, Happy Times, Motion Bound and Penton Raptor. Motion Bound (aka MB) and Penton Raptor (aka Raptor) were both doing their first advanced which is always a nerve wracking experience for all concerned but they were fantastic! Raptor tried his very best to concentrate in his dressage and pick his feet up for the Show Jumping but then, as always, he excelled himself cross country and flew round. MB rose to the occasion more than we could ever have hoped for - he performed the test of his life, jumped a perfect clear show jumping round and then, although a little green in spots, did a great clear XC to finish 2nd in the final placings...only pipped by Miners Frolic! We were thrilled for MB and his lovely owner, Sue Brendish, as MB is only 8 years old and he is looking so serious for the future. Fingers crossed! Happy Times, (now the old pro!) performed brilliantly as well but in these incredibly competitive classes, one pole in the show jumping cost him at least 4 or 5 places and he finished 6th in his section - still a very satisfactory result.

Last weekend we took a lorry load to the Gatcombe Championships - the event got off to a very good start for Sam as his 4 year old, Outward Bound, won the 4 year old young event horse class so he is now heading for Burghley! He is owned by a syndicate of ladies who are such fun to have around and they just adore the horse so they are all incredibly excited about his Burghley debut! The weekend's success continued as Real Dancer headed the Novice Championship section after the dressage and Penton Raptor lay third after the dressage in the Intermediate Championships so things were looking very exciting. Real Dancer unfortunately tipped a couple of poles in the show jumping which, in this incredibly competitive section, left him a little way down the order but a good xc performance meant that he finished in a creditable 15th place. Penton Raptor then went on to just have one pole down in the show jumping and then he flew round the XC and held the lead for most of the day but was just pipped by a few others at the end of the class and he finished in 6th place, much to the delight of his support team. Danaan Prince also competed in this Intermediate Champs and he did a lovely test but was once again marred by a couple of poles in the show jumping. However, he is now an experienced horse at this level so he cruised round the course, going the straight route at the notorious double of corners and ended the day in 15th place as well. We then also had Happy Times there, just to do the plain advanced class, as a Burghley 'warm up' and he was very solid in all three phases and made the XC look so easy - it was a perfect pre-Burghley run for him and he finished in 9th place as, despite being in a very competitive position after the dressage and show jumping, Sam did not want to run him fast before Burghley so he did not push for the time. So, it was a very successful weekend for Sam and his owners with each horse showing such potential for the future.

In amongst all these events, we have been filling any spare time with jobs around the yard - fencing, painting, strimming, the job list is endless but we are now the proud owners of a beautiful new sand and fibre surface to our school (thanks to Rod & Sue Bennett who own Penton Raptor and also specialise in arena surfaces!) and we have 5 more new stables in place. As we continue to expand we also have taken on three more pupils and their horses, who have all already been out competing and getting fantastic results - not to mention having a lot of fun!

So all in all, a very busy time for us, but a happy and exciting one too. We have a few one days over the next couple of weeks and then the count down to Burghley and Blenheim really begins....