HARTPURY NSEA

Huge congratulations to Sylvia Rutherford who won the 80cm class at the schools Jumping and Style competition on Saturday at Hartpury, she represented St Mary's, Calne. Sylvia jumped a classy clear on her super pony "Hot Toddy" resulting in her winning the class which had 131 competitors in it. She also jumped clear in the 90cm narrowly missing out on a placing. Well done Sylvia and Toddy.

Photo Courtesy Heather Rutherford

NEW FACES ON THE YARD

BALLYBEG PLEASURE
I have been bought "Ed" by Barbara Whale and Gareth Powell. He is a 4yo Irish Sports Horse and is bred to event. He has lots of presence and elevated natural paces. He is also proving to be bold and scopey. As with most youngsters he also has some natural flare (not all of it welcomed) but I am very excited about his future.

 

HIO LUCKSWELL
I bought a 4yo project that caught my eye whilst out horse shopping. "Marmite" is a 15.3hh, coloured Irish Sports Horse gelding. He is an absolute poppet and has taken everything is his stride. He has been xc schooled, is jumping fillers etc show jumping and works in a natural outline. He really is too good to be true. We have taken him cubbing with a 50+ field out with the Beaufort and he was admired by all for his striking looks and his immaculate behaviour. Sadly as a project Marmite is for sale. Please give me a call if you want to know more 07941 865688

  

STONAR ISODE

The St Mary's girls from Bosmere did fantastically well at the recent Stonar ISODE. Sylvia Rutherford riding Hot Toddy was in the 80cm, she performed a good dressage scoring 36, she then went on to perform a double clear and finished inside the time.Sylvia ended up in a credible 8th position. Her team also did well to finish in 3rd position.

The following day Frankie Swallow riding Voyagers Sovereign performed a very good test scoring 28, she also went on to jump a double clear and finished inside the time. Frankie was individually 3rd and her team also finished 3rd.

Flora Guy riding Ballymore Charles did a credible dressage scoring a personal best of 37. Flora also jumped a double clear and collected a few time faults. This was a great result for Flora who is relatively new to competing at this level.

Photo Courtesy Photo Synergy

GATCOMBE

PENCARDER SILVER STORM took part in her first CIC** at local event Gatcombe. We went with realistic goals with the first being a qualifying score in the dressage (75). Rosie managed to hold it together for the trot work scoring 7's, however, we then had to walk...Rosie didn't!! Sadly this marred our mark as there was a fair amount of walk in the test. Luckily the canter work was ok and we managed to score 70.8 which left us in 90th out of 100 (yes there were 10 combinations worse than us!!) Anyway mission accomplished we had a qualifying mark...

Next stop the xc. Having walked the course, I realised that 2 stars are actually quite a lot more demanding than your average intermediate track. Luckily I knew I was sat on a jumper and she has always been bold so I was hopeful she would step up to the mark.
We had done our dressage test on the Friday so Rosie hacked Saturday before returning to Gatcombe on the Sunday for the jumping. I walked the course again on the Sunday morning whilst the first few ran...it was not filling me with confidence as none of the first few finished clear and it became obvious very early that this was no dressage competition.
We set off on xc late due to a few holds on the course. Rosie was full of arrogance over the first few and hit the third hard. Luckily this made her respect me rather than scaring herself. She gave me an incredible ride round the whole course. Through the corner complex where so many combinations came apart she cruised through like a pro. She felt tired towards the end but kept jumping. I couldn't have been happier with her. We finished with just 14.8 time which catapulted us up the order with only 37% of the field going clear across country.

Photos Courtesy of Katy Vincent

 After the xc had finished we had to trot up. Rosie flew through this and surprised me with how much energy she still had. The show jumping was in reverse order so we had a few to watch before we were on. Considering she was still in xc mode I was thrilled with just 2 poles being knocked. One was her and one was me just coming a little too forward into the final treble. We ended up in 30th position moving up an incredible 60 places from day 1. I am excited about her future she continues to impress over a fence I just hope this winter we can find some miracle to sort her dressage....Any ideas anyone??!!

PURSTON

NASEBY went to do the BE100 at the beautiful setting of Purston Manor. He performed a good test scoring 34.5. He sadly lost his concentration show jumping resulting in some rails hitting the deck. I withdrew him from the xc as he was out of a competitive position.

BLACK EYED PEA II was in the BE100 Open. He did what I thought was his best test to date, he was very settled and flashy. I predicted a 29 so you can only imagine my confusion when I found a 38 on the board!! Blackie made one minor mistake in the showjumping taking just one rail. He flew round the xc and finished up 11th (just one place ahead of recently sold Kington).

BLENHEIM PONY CLUB ARENA EVENTING

Frankie Swallow took part at Blenheim in the arena eventing on Voyagers Sovereign. This was a course of sj, then moved onto a course of xc fences and then back to a very up to height upright sj to finish. Frankie rode a very professional round and jumped a beautiful clear. Not many clears were seen on the day. Sadly it was a team competition and one of Frankie's fellow team members horses' was not playing ball and collected a number of penalties.

Photo courtesy E.S Photography

BLENHEIM

ZEUS OF RUSHALL competed at Blenheim in the CCI3*. He has been here a few times but even still as you drive up through the gates I get that excited tingly feeling. Jimmy has been on tremendous form this year and the build up to this event could not have been better. With 98 FEI points in the bank for next spring anything we collected here was a bonus.
Lizzie Clough was grooming for me who I haven't had with me since Badminton 2011 so I was feeling very privileged.

Trot up went with Jimmy being very keen to show how well he was feeling. He looked immaculate and I was excited for the rest of it.

Photo Courtesy of Robert Pullen

Dressage was on the Friday morning. Pammy Hutton had very kindly come up to help me warm up. Jimmy felt on great form and was really settled. He performed a very nice test with one mistake in the first change but overall I was very pleased. I was disappointed with my score of 49.6 but one of the judges had marked him a lot less than the other two.

Photo Courtesy of Tim Wilkinson

Cross country day was upon us and I went for a final walk whilst the early few were running. The course was not riding well at all with problems spread out all over the place. I was beginning to feel very nervous and couldn't wait to get started. Jimmy left the start box and really took me. He was locking on and jumping out of his skin. The corners at 5 we sailed through where so many had had problems. All around the course I had to work hard but I kept asking and Jimmy kept giving. Although we took a few flags out on the way I never felt like he was going to run out or be cheeky. He did feel a little tired coming out of the main arena so I let the accelerator off a little but he kept galloping and jumping. We went straight everywhere and finished with just 8 time faults leaving us in a very exciting 8th position overnight.

Photos Courtesy Tim Wilkinson

Sadly it was not meant to be and Jimmy felt a little sore on the Sunday morning. He means such a lot to me and we have been through so much I kept the bigger picture in mind and withdrew him from the show jumping. Having come back from Badminton 2011 with a leg injury we have managed to get some fantastic placings this year and get enough points for Badminton again lets just hope we will get back there together...we have unfinished business.

WELLINGTON

We took 4 horses from the yard to Wellington which is becoming one of my favourite events.

BLACK EYED PEA II was in the Open BE100 to gain some of the basics necessary for an event horse. He was very fresh in the dressage and even with a couple of bucks he scored a 32.5. He showjumped very well and I am thrilled with the marked improvement he has made in this phase. Xc he was a machine and we finished on our dressage to collect 9th place.

NASEBY was in the BE100 and i was happy with his test however, the judge was less than kind and scored him 39.5!! Sadly the atmosphere was a little too much for Jerry in the sj and he lowered 3 rails. He has huge potential but requires a winter spent doing sj practise. He was classy xc and went clear, obviously I didn't push for time.

PENCARDER SILVER STORM was very naughty in her test and scored 42.3 however, she jumped her socks off and finished double clear with just 2 time faults and a 10th placing. If only I could improve her on the flat but I think she just imagines the xc the whole way through!!

Photos Courtesy of James Pyne Photography

HARTPURY

ZEUS OF RUSHALL was competing in the CIC3* here.

He felt a little flat the night before his test and in the warm up prior to going in but he performed an ok test just lacking some sparkle. He scored a 47.1 which left him in a competitive position overnight, with heaps of potential to get better marks.

The Saturday morning we show jumped and Jimmy jumped out of his skin nearly jumping me off over the second last. He moved up a few places with his clear sj and left all to play for xc.

Photo Courtesy John Britter

Xc went very well with Jimmy collecting just 8 time faults round a tough course, leaving us in a credible 9th position and giving us a few more of the sacred FEI points necessary to get into Badminton!

Photos Courtesy John Britter

KINGTON

We made the sad decision to sell Kington. He is a double clear machine and I wish him every success with his new owner and jockey Kimberley. xxx

 

WILTON

I took 4 horses to Wilton over the 2 days.

BLACK EYED PEA II in the novice. He performed a much more settled test than at his last outing scoring a very pleasing 26. He has grown up so much show jumping already and is much more confident. He jumped huge into the treble and just took the middle element. I didn't run him xc with the ground being so hard.

KINGTON was also in the novice. He scored a 35 on the flat and show jumped very well for a clear. I didn't run him xc as the ground was too firm.

We returned the next day following a night of heavy rain (thankfully).

PENCARDER SILVER STORM was in the intermediate. She was particularly naughty on the flat doing anything but what she was meant to be doing and was very lucky to only get 43.6, she had an unlucky pole show jumping. Xc the ground had improved dramatically so I decided to run Rosie. As I set out on the course the heavens opened and I was running in torrential rain. I could hardly see the fences in the top field but Rosie was fantastic and battled through. She finished clear picking up 16.4 time but collected 9th place. The course caused havoc and the only rain Wilton had that day was as I was going xc!! She really is the best horse xc, such fun and really loves her job (all is forgiven in the dressage AGAIN)!!

ZEUS OF RUSHALL was having his prep run before Hartpury. He was lovely in his test just making a couple of mistakes but was lying 2nd in a competitve field. He was jumping well sj until he put his tongue over the bit and did a very nice balanced 10m circle and carried on! He collected 4 faults and 9 time. He was never running xc anyway so we withdrew him ready for his next big one.

WEST BUCKLAND

We had a busy day at West Buckland with 3 on the lorry.
KINGTON was in the novice. He produced a reasonable test scoring 35. Annoyingly I rode him badly to the first show jump and he had no option but to take the rail, other than that he jumped fab. Sadly the ground was rather hard and I decided not to run him xc.

Photo Courtesy of Spidge Photography

BLACK EYED PEA II was also in the novice. He was quite excited in his test and never really settled so sadly scored a 42.5, He had the last down sj but jumped a fabulous round. He felt quite green xc over a fairly testing track so I pulled him up and will now give him a couple of easy runs to establish him with the basics. He is a horse for the future so I have no need to rush him.

 NASEBY was in the BE100, he performed a test that we all knew he was capable and I was pleased with a score of 29.5, I had the first sj down again!! Other than that he jumped well. XC he was a machine and flew round collecting a couple of time where I hadn't gone for the time because of the ground. He finished up 11th.

Photos Courtesy of Spidge Photography

UPTON HOUSE

I took BLACK EYED PEA II to Upton in the Novice. He did a more settled test scoring 33, he jumped the first 4 fences sj very well and I turned a corner and found myself on the floor! Blackie had slipped and my stirrups fell off leaving me upside down! I remounted and finished having jumped all the fences clear but sadly i was a second over the time so found I was eliminated. Thankfully they kindly let me go xc and he was clear giving me a lovely ride.

Photo Courtesy of 1st Class Images