Gatcombe

The next day following our success at dressage we headed off to Gatcombe. I had mixed emotions about this as Wally used to live there and that is when he started misbehaving so galloping through the middle of the fields he used to be turned out in could have been a task in itself. Wally was first of the two boys to go. Warming up he felt fab and then the heavens opened and we literally drowned. Thankfully the rain then stopped again before we went into the arena. Wally performed another fabulous test scoring 27.5 and leaving us in 2nd (not bad for his second attempt at this level). Showjumping was another matter and having had to wait in the arena for a fence to be rebuilt for the competitor before to finish was a lesson learned in itself-NEVER enter the arena before the one in has finished!! Wally found a scary flag which pretty much destroyed any chance of us jumping the first 4 fences however he was clear from the 5th fence to the end!! Cross country he was fabulous, even galloping down the tracks he used to hack/nap down. He felt very bold and seemed to really enjoy what he was doing. I am very excited about his future and cannot thank his owner Simon Hall enough for giving me the opportunity if having him and being so patient with his random behaviour!

Kington was next. He didn't produce his best test, just a little green and wobbly in places but he will get there. This winter will be focused on dressage and BSJA with all of them so he'll progress on the flat. He scored 37.5. He showjumped fantastically for a clear and then went onto fly round the xc although I didn't push him for time because he is still needing to understand the fences and gain confidence at this level. He has now won his first point for going double clear-yippeee!!

All photo's courtesy of Tim Wilkinson