WINTER: Brrrr

It’s been a pretty quiet few weeks for us since the end of the season back in October. Most of the boys went home to their owners for a well-deserved break. I wish I could say that I decamped to somewhere hot and exotic in the Southern hemisphere for a few weeks but alas there are bills to pay so I had several ponies in for ‘boot camp’ whilst the boys were away. At least I don’t have to worry about getting me back in shape at the end of the winter as well as the horses!

November’s highlight for us was the South East Eventers League Ball, held again at the High Rocks near Tunbridge Wells. As always it was a fantastic evening and lovely to catch up with friends and sponsors without the usual “sorry, must go. I’m late for my dressage……..”

Once again my boys did us proud in the final rankings with Keith Marsden’s Northern Territory winning the Jim Boyle/Saracen Feeds Retrained Racehorse. An achievement made even more special by the fact that NT was actually in training with the Boyle’s!!! Teresa Hemings’ First Impression also came home with some ribbons, with a 3^rd place in the Coakham Bloodhounds Novice and 5^th in the LMEQ Leading Horse and Rider. 

December has actually seen us come out of hibernation for a few excursions to Felbridge for Combined Training. The first outing was back in at the deep end with some extra rides picked up in addition to my own ponies. My helper Anna Almeida asked if I would take her homebred 5yo, Hunter for his first ‘proper’ party. He was an absolute angel, finishing 3rd in the 90cm class on his dressage mark of 34.4. This very straightforward 16.2h, rose grey gelding is very sadly for sale. Please contact me for further details. His half-sister Ruby also had her first ever outing with two rather green but very genuine (and clear) trips around the clear round course.

It was the 100cm class that saw things get really busy with Jamesson, Burntwood Sorrell and Kevin Maples’ Ciceron de Buissey all competing, but despite the rush and being hassled to “please hurry up” all the boys were fabulous, taking 1^st (Ginger 27), 2^nd (James 24 + 4sj) and 3^rd (Hugo 31).

Our return trip two weeks later was a little quieter with just James and Ginger competing but, for us anyway, it was an equally good day. James improved on his dressage mark to gain 22.5 in the 100cm class, unfortunately we had one pole lowered sj but it was not enough to drop us down and he got his first red ribbon. Ginger stepped up to the Novice class and pulled out all the stops for a 21.5 dressage mark and, although he definitely felt his way around the showjumping by braille, importantly the poles all stayed up and he also came home with a red one.

So next on the agenda is Christmas and then 2015 is upon us and it won’t be long until we shall be thinking entries open for the first events………… EEEK!

So I hope you all have a wonderful Christmas and a Happy Successful New Year.

See you all in a muddy field somewhere very soon. x