LARKHILL

Next stop was Larkhill horse trials. I took three horses to this event which is pretty local to me.

NASEBY was a touch excited to see the racecourse and didn't concentrate as much as he could have done in the dressage however he did not deserve the unmentionable score the judge gave him, he made up for it sj by just having one fence down. XC he had improved again from Howick but sadly had to have a look at the water, again a green mistake but very frustrating.

ERRIGAL HILL BOY was also a little excited for his test, but the judge was on my side and he scored  32.5 somehow!! He had the first fence down sj and jumped another clear xc. This has laid some ghosts to rest as October hadn't quite gone to plan when owner Simon Hall rode him here!!

KINGTON was in the novice and produced a nice test but sadly the judge obviously needed to visit specsavers!! He jumped a fab clear sj over a very technical track that was causing kots of problems. Xc he was flying until i rode like a complete muppet and put him under a fence, he is soooooo genuine but this was an impossible situation to get out of and I was furious with myself for the rest of my round. Grrrrr

HOWICK

Our next outing was to Howick just across the bridge into Wales. This is a lovely event and it is very well run.

NASEBY was doing his first BE100, he performed a nice test to score 34.5, sadly he had the first and the last sj down and was flying xc until the ditch in the coffin took him by surprise. He is still very green but is showing lots of talent and once he understands what his job is I think he will be fabulous.

ERRIGAL HILL BOY was also competing in the BE100, he is now very established at this level and managed to contain himself in the dressage to score 32. He then sj well for a clear and stormed around the xc clear and finished pretty much on the time to finish on his dressage score. This meant we had our first winner of the year, and Dougal's first win ever.

Photo Courtesyof Matt Nuttall Photography