Purston Manor

Today we travelled to Purston Manor taking Kington to step back a level to boost confidence having stepped up to novice successfully, and Wally (Wanadoo Too). Kington started with a good test, still with plenty to improve but scored a respectable 33.5, showjumped clear and went xc like a pro finishing well inside the optimum time. WE WON!!!! It was a tough enough course with faults collected everywhere but Kington is beginning to be quite an established horse xc now and proved that he is definitely ready to continue running at novice now. He is a star in the making.

Wally was producing a lovely test but sadly couldn't hold his enthusiasm for the entire test and threw in some beautiful bucks for good measure (he was still 7th after this phase)!! He shows huge amounts of talent on the flat but needs to learn to concentrate for the time he is in the ring. Showjumping he rolled 2 poles but managed to avoid any "wobble" moments. I can forgive him for these as we know he has masses of scope, he just needs to focus a little more at times. Cross country was different. We stopped for some reason between fence 1 and 2 waited a few moments whilst Wally's brain reshuffled back onto planet Earth and then continued as though nothing had happened, jumping fantastically the whole way. He finished clear but had acquired 60.4 time faults!!! I have never had this happen to me before and hopefully won't again!! I won the battle and now I think (hope) he knows who's in charge!!

Photos courtesy of John Britter