I had the most incredible day yesterday at Llanymynech Horse Trials. The 10 days running up to the event were far from perfect for me, including two hospital trips, one for a smack in the face which resulted in a sliced cheek and black eye and the other due to a really silly fall on a fun ride, which resulted in an ambulance ride (so very nearly the helicopter but i was too naughty to ride in the helicopter) and a diet of painkillers for 6 days. Massive thank you's go to Linda Platt and Cherry Parr for taking care of me before the ambulance crew arrived, Linda then drove Florence and Percy home, while Cherry came in the ambulance with me and held my sick bowl!!! Katie Ayres and Rob Jarret for dealing with my horses on the fun ride and Emily Mainwaring and Nicola Shone for looking after all the horses at home. And of course Thomas, my boyfriend, for dealing with a nightmare patient when we got home!!!
We were doing our second BE novice and the conditions were perfect for us. Both horses were incredible from start to finish. Florence got a 32 dressage, clear Showjumping and clear cross country with 2.4 time penalties. Good enough for 10th and picked up her first big boy point to go with her 114 foundation points. Percy had a 32.5 dressage, a very unlucky 4 faults Showjumping and a clear in the time cross country. Just outside the placings in 11th. I did also pick up the prize for the best riding club member in Florences section.
The novice cross country test had quite an unusual twist to the results. At fence 7 they had built a new ditch palisade, it was a big rider freightener but they had been nice by giving a pheasant feeder fence at 6, which was about 6 or 7 strides from the ditch palisade. But for some reason it caused no end of trouble and there were some fallers, the last of which didn't even attempt to take off at the fence resulting in the horse falling in the ditch. The fences 6 and 7 were then taken out and penalties picked up at that fence were removed. I can understand why they felt the need to remove it but it was quite frustrating for us riders that had already jumped it clear, as my two babies had. But I'm not complaining because I'm delighted with the pair of them. It makes me so proud because of the fact they are homebred and produced. Very proud mummy :-) xxx