Absolutely chuffed to bits with my two Equestrian Direct Ltd "Ginger Boys" tonight...took them to do their second dressage test on grass and got some great results. They were just 1 mark apart gaining 73.33% and 73.75% in Prelim 18, Ginger taking 2nd and Louis taking 3rd. They are coming on so well and looking fantastic on Equerry Horse Feed #FedOnEquerry
Yesterday Mum and I had a very adventurous trip to London to visit Patey hats to get my head conformed for a hat that I won as their runner up to their #lovemypatey competition. I was up at 3.05am to do the horses and catch the 5.20am train from Crewe to Euston. I didn't roll back into bed until 1.20am the following morning!!! We had the most wonderful time and the Patey team were very welcoming and friendly. Their shop is in the most lovely part of the city, not like a typical city street. Some other fabulous shops along there to. It was so interesting hearing the story behind all the wonderful hats, I had no idea how their top hats were made and I found it fascinating to hear. I even got to try a bearskin hat on, as worn by the military in ceremonies. We also learnt lots about city life for horses and their riders around the Hyde Park area, so different from anything any of mine are used to. Oh and I also learnt how much you can expect to pay for livery or a riding lesson in the city, it's a different world!!!! When Ian measured my head he discoved quite a considerable dent to the left hand side, which he believes to be from my rotational fall exactly two years ago, when I suffered an injury to my brain. I had no idea my head had a dent in it!!! Now all I have to do is wait to see the finished product. How very exciting and such a generous prize. Mum and I decided to make the most of our trip so did a bit of shopping, a bit of sightseeing, oh and grabbed a cocktail at The Ritz...as you do!!! 😃 So yesterday may not have been the perfect weather with all the wind and rain, for going showjumping but I throughly enjoyed my day at Netley Hall with Percy and Florence. Luckily they ran the Open class first thing in the morning so we were all done by 10.30. The course was a true open track and I'm made up with how my two homebred horses tackled the courses. Percy was up first and had an unlucky 4 faults at the last fence. Then Florence jumped a great clear. In the second round the roles were reversed and Percy jumped out of his skin for a fantastic clear. And Florence had a brilliant round but was so unlucky for 4 faults at the last. Just delighted with how well they jumped. Percy's team for Nantwich Riding Club of Amanda Dakin, John Done and Lisa Cadman finished with 4 faults after the two rounds which unfortunately just wasn't quite good enough for the win and took 2nd. Florence's team weren't so lucky with two of the riders having bad second rounds and finished 5th. After a lovely social Tea Party aboard Queen Wendy with my friends from East Clwyd Riding Club which has become a bit of a trend, I spent two hours up in the judges box doing the timing control for the Intermediate class, which I actually really enjoyed. Last night was an outing for the three Equestrian Direct ginger boys. They all had a play in Prelim 13 and it was the first test on grass for both Louis and Ginger. Louis was up first and despite a couple of slips in cow pats he did a very calm and obedient test. Including gaining an 8 for his near perfect give and retake of the reins in trot. Super pleased with a 66.88% and 6th. Ginger was very laid back about the whole situation and wasn't lit up by being out on grass for his first time. He is showing great promise and is going to be great and a very exciting prospect for the future. Thrilled with a 66.46%, just 1 mark behind Louis. And finally Crosbie came out for a play, it was his first test in about 6 weeks and he was cool as a cucumber, took it all in his stride and performed beautifully for 73.54% and 3rd place. Delighted with the ginger trio and thank you to Rach and Jen for helping me with swapping them over and tacking up etc...couldn't have done it with out you. ️xx Petplan Equine is working on a campaign all about Responsible Riding with the aim of giving horse owners and riders the knowledge to help prevent illness and injuries. They have a multiple choice quiz that asks people what they would do in certain situations involving their horses. For example what someone would do if they wanted to go to a competition with an unfit horse, what they do if approached by a noisy dog on a hack or what they would do if they noticed their horse coughing. The quiz isnt designed to teach people to score 100% the aim is to make people consider what the best thing they can do for their horse is in these situations. They are launching Responsible Riders on their Hickstead trade stand. I was invited to Hickstead to take part in the quiz but unfortunately am unable to go but I have just taken part on line, pleased to have scored 100%. Why don't you follow the link below to have a go and see how you get on. I would be interested to see your results, screen shot the results page like I have done and share in the comments below...good luck 😃 Not my best day at Stafford Horse Trials. Florence my careful showjumper had the double down at the last fence which cost dearly cause she's had 31.8 and clear in time Xc, we could have been very highly placed. Percy was in a harsh marked section on 38.5, unlucky rail Sj and super clear Xc but then I find out they gave him 3 time SJ and he had pretty much bolted round then 14 too fast Xc and I'd hacked round cause if it being a bit firm. So I went to moan and they said they couldn't check the SJ but they checked the Xc and they timed me wrong at the start but still got 4 too fast. Sack the jockey but on the plus side I jumped a left handed corner twice perfectly!!! I've always been told to take a positive out of a bad thing 😂 What a fabulous day at the British Riding Clubs Area 20 Dressage Qualifiers. Percy's team were 1st in the Riding Test and he got 78.18%. Florence's team were 2nd in the Open Dressage and she got 69.81% for 2nd individually. Percy was 3rd in Novice 34 with 69.3%. And Hayley Mayer and I were 1st in the pairs in 75%. Great results for Nantwich Riding Club and 3 qualifications for the BRC National Championships. So pleased with our ginger girls in the pairs dressage, they only met briefly on Wednesday to meet each other and run through the test they we made up. They took it all in their stride and just excepted each other's company like little pros. Next stop Lincoln. I am just home from a very enjoyable day out at Eland Lodge with my Big Man-Frankie. He had his first BE run for over a year in the Open Novice. Ok so dressage wasn't our greatest moment, he resembled a ticking time bomb somewhat!!! But got away with a 32.5, so we weren't disgraced at all. He went on to have the best time in the showjumping...so many lovely things to spook at but "oh mummy why didn't you say I was here to showjump, I wouldn't have spooked at everything round the arena on route to the first fence" but not to panic he got away with that to and jumped a wonderful clear. Then off we headed to the cross country, quite possibly my most enjoyable, most smiley ride of the season, he was just fab, the professional photographers got some great pictures of our faces, smiling from ear to ear, he made it feel so easy and we throughly enjoyed it. We did add 11.3 time penalties to our score as the time was extremely tight but that doesn't matter I'm just thrilled we had such s lovely time. I think we finished 13th of 33. So much love for my special boy 😘😍❤️😍😘 This morning I took Louis and Ginger to Tushingham Arena for combined training. They had BE92 Dressage and 80cm jumping. Louis was first up and behaved impeccably in the dressage for a 68.24% and then jumped a very keen showjumping round and was clear to finish 5th. Ginger was a little green in the dressage but it is only his 3rd ever competition, but the judges liked him and he scored 70.25%, then showjumping he just didn't concentrate into the second fence and had it down but after that jumped a super round, his first ever competitive showjumping outing. He finished up 6th. Very pleased with the pair of gingers 😃 |
Bonnie FishburnAmateur event rider Archives
August 2022
Categories |