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June News
Stephen Hadley Clinic
This week was half term and we managed to avoid the rain on occasions, and be able to get out to two training sessions. On thursday we went to Lower peake and did some xc schooling on Smurph. He seems to be a water babe and loved getting wet. He jumped everything asked of him, and Bugz did a sterling job as the nanny. On Friday, we went to a Stephen Hadley clinic, which I really enjoyed. He was excellent and really liked Smurph. He taught in a very good humoured, matter of fact fashion and was very much on my wave length!. We practised getting Smurph deeper and rounder, and finished up with a course of jumps. Photos to follow shortly.
Photos: Frosty finds a new home and says cheerio to Tom.
Smartie takes to hacking like a duck to water, whilst Bugz is the perfect nanny
Tom practises his tractor driving skills (still some room for improvement!)
Spring goes hacking and has her first canter under saddle earlier in the week.
Half term
Other half term news...
We have been decorating the bedroom. Frosty has found a new home and it seems that this one will take much better care of him!! We have a new arrival... no not another horse, but a tractor... on trial. school starts soon, so have lots of work to do. June is going to be very busy with SJ ODE coursebuilding, qualifiers and lots more!
BVRC Hoplands
What a busy weekend. I was coursebuilding NFPC show on Saturday and went to BVRC show on Sunday!! It's now 7pm on Sunday and it's the first time I have been home since 7.30 am Friday morning! Thank goodness for laptops at this time of year, at least report writing just slows down and doesn't have to stop completely! Today Tom went to Doha. We were entered in BVRC SJ, so Sian kindly stepped in and Jumped Dougal - very well indeed! See Pictures. Dougal had an unlucky pole in the 2'9. Smurph had an unlucky pole(stile) in the Jump off of the 2'9, but got a special rossette. Dougal jumped a super round in the 3'0 and was clear, apart from missing one turn (very up to height and twisty courses) Smurph jumped a super double clear - once again the only one of the competition - to come1st! Harmony was entered, but had a small setback when her shoe slipped and speared her foot in the stable last week. Lots of poulticing later, we are hoping to get a shoe on tomorrow, which leaves us short on time to prepare for next weekend!
Area 17 Horse trials:
What a weekend! Lots of report writing, followed by a trek to Moreton in Dorset! It was the Rc qualifier and we managed to host lots of teams and really excelled ourselves! The novice teams came first and third, qualifying for the championships at offchurch, as did the intermediate team! Full reports on June sub Page - use menu to access this and see all the pictures!
Area 17 Show Jumping qualifier
On Saturday, we travelled down to Langford Farm for the show jumping qualifier. The day was interrupted by torrential downpours, which turned into consistent monsoons by the afternoon. The novice competition was a deluge of eliminations and faults, due to the large arena, and spooky jumps. Our team came third with 34 faults! Tom jumped clear and 4, Kirsty jumped 4 and 4 faults, whilst Smurph went with the crowd and took a disliking to a black filler. Two stops and hundreds of time faults later, he managed to complete the first round. In the second round Smurph jumped a lovely clear, in disgusting rain. In the intermediate Harmony did 2 super clears in pouring rain. Her team mates had a range of faults, so it was left to the individual competition. She jumped a storming jump off to finish 12 secs ahead of everyone else. Luck however was against us, and we breathed on the final pole which fell, to leave us 3rd.
