Burnham Beeches

Sunday we headed off to Burnham Beeches, an event I enjoy going to and return most years. Alex Hamilton-White kindly came as groom and was a fantastic help. First on was Wanadoo Too, he was sadly first to go of the whole day dressage which I believe is a huge disadvantage. He performed a stunning test which we all thought was better than his West Wilts performance, sadly he only got a 30.5 but was still competitive. He showjumped fantastically for a clear and then went xc with an attitude we could have only dreamt about in the past. We finished well inside the optimum time and came back with a 4th rosette. Next outing for him will be Gatcombe Novice providing all goes to plan.
Pencarder Silver Storm was next on, although she came out the lorry with a shoe twisted so we pulled that off and put her back on the lorry.
Kington came out for his 3rd novice, performed a green and wobbly test but did most things in the right places. I was very pleased with a score of 28. He showjumped fantastically for a clear, springing off the floor and not coming close to touching a pole. He set out xc and overjumped fence 3 with a drop behind, this seemed to unsettle him and he jumped the next two rather large so I pulled him up and thought it was best to save him for another day with some xc schooling practice inbetween. He is such a lovely horse that he deserves the time spent on him.
All in all a good outing....next stop Highclere

West Wilts Last Minute Entry

I have been teaching at the Avon Vale Pony Club junior camp for the week but was lucky enough to get a last minute entry into West Wilts BE100 just having to take the afternoon off teaching to compete at my most local event. Wanadoo Too (Wally) had been prepared (plaited etc) by my home groom Ingrid and looked the part, so I was hoping for less tricks in the dressage. I could not have been happier with the test, the judge opened the door at the end and congratulated us!! I got my first ever 10 for a halt in the middle of the test and was rewarded by a fantastic score of 19.5 (80.5%). This put us well in the lead but as we have learned from Wally, the win was not in the bag.

Other than finding some Mitsubushi L200 signs around the warm-up arena very scary we went in and jumped a lovely clear in the new outdoor arena (which is beautiful to jump on).

All photo's courtesy of David Betteridge

Then onto the xc, the course was stiffer than the previous event here, jumping a few of the novice obsticles but Wally flew round taking everything in his stride. We finished bang on the optimum time and had a comvincing win of 11 marks!! Nothing could have made today more perfect.

Smiths Lawn

Not the greatest of reports sadly. The ground was awfully hard and had had little treatment, if any, so I decided to withdraw Kington and Pencarder Silver Storm from the competition after dressage. Wanadoo Too ran because he was feeling rather fresh and I thought he'd benefit from a run. He was naughty in the dressage taking umbridge at a distant horse and performing some aerial tricks (not appreciated by me or the owner, but he amused himself). He showjumped clear and ran xc well just getting a little surprised by the steps that are half a stride round a corner in the woods. This felt like his best run even though on paper it looks his worst, he came out the start box and took me to every fence-definite progress!! Sadly an event I can't see myself returning to unless some serious work is done to it.

New Sponsor

Lucie McNichol Eventing has a new sponsor in the form of Devoucoux Saddles. They are the best saddles on the market and I have ridden in them for some years now. A beautiful new jump saddle arrived today and I am very much looking forward to taking it on its maiden voyage!! If you are in need of a saddle for any discipline please follow the link through from my website to Devoucoux, they provide a very friendly, efficient service and are always more than willing to help.

Upton House

Our last outing was to Upton House in Oxfordshire. The event is set in beautiful surroundings and is definitely worth a visit. The ground had had a lot of work done on it for which all event riders are grateful.

First on was Wally (Wanadoo Too) in the BE100. He performed a lovely test as usual, sadly the judge needed a visit to specsavers-enough said. Wally went on to jump a lovely double clear albeit slowly as there was no point pushing him following the dressage mark. He has made great progress and hopefully this will continue to be the case. 



Photo's courtesy of first photography

Next up was Rosie (Pencarder Silver Storm) she performed an ok test which I felt was a little harshly marked for 40.5, she is back to her usual consistent self and jumped a beautiful double clear finishing just outside the placings with a couple of time faults.

Finally Stanley was on, he did a sweet test but is still a little green, scoring 38. He jumped well, I had one down and he brushed one so had 8 faults but jumped well. Xc he had a very green look at the water at fence 4 which took him by surprise, but other than that he was great and seems to be comfortable at this level. Netx outing is at Smiths Lawn at the beginning of August.

New Arrivals

We have 2 new arrivals (full profiles coming soon to "Horses" section)

Liberal Lady (Millie) a 10yr old bay Intermediate mare belonging to Mark Milligan. Millie is getting fit currently and will be out towards the end of the season-a very exciting addition to Lucie.

Boston a 5yr old Brown Dressage horse belonging to Jane and David Hamilton. Boston is here to gain experience at Affiliated British Dressage classes before being sold. He is a stunning mover and has a fabulous, trainable brain. It is lovely to have some great movers in the yard, it makes dressage so much more fun!!

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