WE ARE OFF TO THE NATIONAL AMATEUR CHAMPIONSHIPS!!

Today I achieved an ambition by qualifying for the Amateur Championships at Aintree in November.

We went to Maelor to jump our 2nd round today. Pete and I were last to go, and I must admit this is not one of my favourite venues as it is quite a narrow arena and I find it difficult to get into a nice rythmn round the course.

The first round was a tricky course with unusual turns, set at 1.05m. Pete tried hard in the first round and went clear to join 15 others. This meant that with 12 to qualify for the final, 4 horses would miss out. Fortunately we were last to go in the jump off so I had chance to see how the others were going.

There was not too many clears so I decided to gamble on a steady clear as I knew this would be enough for us to take a qualifying place. Luckily, Pete tried hard again and left all the fences up. We finished 6th to easily go through to the final. I was over the moon with him!!

As an added bonus we won 2 lovely rossetes and £15 prize money. The most important thing is the ticket to the final which is held at the end of November at one of my favourite venues, Aintree Equestrian Centre. This gives us a real focus with points to work on before the final. I'm hoping to afford some lessons to improve our jump off turns in the next few weeks as the Finals get very competitive! This means we do not need to attend the other second round qualifier at Bold Heath at the end of October.

Next week we look forward to our next Event together at Kelsall Hill BE 90, so this week its back to focusing on dressage to improve his scores!

MIDWEEK SHOW AT AINTREE

This week I have a weeks holiday from work, so I decided to make the most of it and go to Aintree to jump the Newcomers on Wednesday.

It was a lot busier than I expected, and there was 60+ in the class. The majority of the riders were professionals bringing out their young horses. I really appreciate the opportunities to ride against these people as I learn a lot from watching them and competing against them.

Pete was fabulous and jumped a clear in the first round to join 17 others into the jump off. After a long wait Pete and I went into the ring to face the 1.20m course. Pete jumped fantastically for just 4 faults at the water tray. I was thrilled with him over one of the biggest courses we have done to date.

Pete will now have a 3 week rest before tackling his 1m Amateur second rounds.

OUR FIRST EVENT!

BOLD HEATH BE 90

Today Pete and I completed our first BE 90 together at Bold Heath.

Dressage

Pete warmed up well for the dressage, but unfortunately as I went in to do my test he went lazy on me and he performed a lacklustre test. I was a little disappointed but not surprised to hear we scored 39.5. I know Pete can do much, much better than this and next time I will wear a pair of spurs to back up my leg when he goes lazy. I have to be careful not to use too much leg as he has a tendency to put in a cheeky buck as he doesnt like to be rushed!

Show Jumping

For some reason, I felt very nervous for the jumping, especially considering at 90cm, it was actually a step down in level for us. Pete unfortunately had fence 2 down, which to be fair was my fault as I added a stride and he got a little deep into it. He jumped the rest well though to finish on 4 faults.

Cross Country

Pete set off well on the cross country but was quite spooky and unsure so I took the long route at fence 4, the corner. He hesitated at the 1st water jump but went in and jumped out well over the pallisade. We came to the next fence, a wall with a small drop behind and unfortunately he spooked at the wall and ran past it, incurring 20 penalties. He jumped fairly well round the rest of the course but was a little bit spooky and still unsure so more practice is required for our Kelsall event! All in all this was not too bad for a debut.

CROSS COUNTRY PRACTICE

Today we took Pete to Somerford and hired the cross country schooling area to practice before we do the Bold Heath Horse Trial in 2 weeks time. Somerford is an excellent facility with lots of different types and sizes of fences to train over. I would love to use this facility more often but unfortunately finances wont allow me!!

I just tried the simple fences to build up Petes confidence over the solid fences as he is not the bravest horse.

I was very pleased with him as he learnt a lot and finished up jumping ditches, banks and even a small fence into the water. I feel he is now ready to tackle his first British Eventing competition with me.

Pete the Dressage Diva!

Pete and I went to our local Riding Clubs Dressage Competition. We did a prelim test, and we came 2nd with 69% which was a nice surprise! All good practice for those Events!!

A Personal Goal Achieved!!

Cheshire County Show 2011

When I first got Pete on loan, I had secretly hoped to aim him at the Newcomers at this years Cheshire Show. Because we have been jumping 1.10m courses much sooner than I had expected, I decided to enter him this year. I booked the day off work and we headed to Tabley where the show is held, which is luckily only a 20 minute journey for us.

We arrived to find grey skies and drizzle, and with it being the second day of the show, they going was quite muddy in places. I was quite glad about this, as I will not jump Pete on hard ground, his legs are too precious.

I walked the course and as I expected, it was big and bold with a full 12 fences. It was quite a spooky arena, with trade stands on one side and a ferris wheel on the other. I didn't think this would bother Pete too much, as he quite experienced. It was however, fun watching horses scuttling everywhere in the warm up when the ferris wheel was turned on!!

I decided to warm Pete up in a quiet area of the car park rather than in the boggy warm up arena to give him the best of the going. I only went into the warm up at the last minute to jump a couple of fences. I was pleased with how he coped with the ground as I was expecting him to be a wimp having to jump out of mud!!

It was soon our turn to jump, and I got quite nervous as a crowd had started to gather at the ringside. I started off determined and really rode him forward all the way round.

He had a spook and a wobble to fence 4 by the crowd so I gave him a quick reminder with my whip on his shoulder and he picked up and jumped it. Unfortunately he had fence 6, an upright, down for no real reason, and then also hit the last fence, the oxer over the water tray. So we finished on 8 faults, which on paper isn't great but I was really pleased with him, and also with myself for riding positively and really regaining my confidence at this height again.

Scope Qualifier at Southview

Yesterday we took Pete to Southview on a lovely sunny morning to jump the Adventurer Qualifier. It was very busy with around 70 people in the class. It was a 2 phase class being 1.05 in the first phase and 1.15 in the second phase. Pete jumped amazingly round the first section, was really keen and didn't bat an eyelid at the wavy planks or water tray. The jump off section was quite big, but Pete jumped his socks off for a lovely double clear to go into 5th at that stage. We watched the rest of the class and Pete and I got pushed down to 7th place, just one place off qualifying for Scope. I wasnt disappointed, however, as I was not intending on jumping at Scope anyway. I was very pleased with 7th place, and £15 prize money.

First show and 2 days at Southview

Well a few weeks back we took Pete to his first show at Bold Heath. I did the 95cm A4 speed class, which was one round against the clock. Pete jumped a lovely clear to win the class and pocket £40 prize money. What a fantastic result for our first outing!

Since I got Pete, I've had the Amateur 3 day show at Southview in my sights. I had planned to do the 90cm on the friday and the 90cm grand prix on the Sunday. As it happened, I decided to jump both the 90cm and 1m classes as I felt ready for doing the slightly bigger class.

On the friday, it was very busy and Pete jumped well but unfortunately hit a pole in each class for 4 faults. Saturday was rest day and we went back on the Sunday for the Grands Prix. After Friday, I had decided to skip the 90cm and jump in the deep end and jump the 1m and also the Ladies 1.10m, which was to be our biggest test to date.

First up was the 1m, Pete jumped a fantastic clear over a technical track to make it to the jump off. We were drawn 2nd to go in the jump off and I decided to gamble on a clear as I wasnt sure how he would go against the clock. Unfortunately, we hit the upright going into the double for 4 faults anto finish 12th, just out of the placings.

I walked the course for the 1.10 Ladies, and it was huge, I had not jumped 1.10 since I had Jess about 6 years ago. I was nervous but I decided to go in and give it my best shot. Pete jumped the first half of the course fantastically, making light work of the big combination. As we came to the double unfortunately shot forward and hit the fence going in then unsettled himself and argued with me to the next fence, so I circled him to regain our composure and finshed the course really well. I was very pleased with our first attempt at 1.10m there are things to work on but its still very early days.

Exciting News!!

Me trying Peter out at Aintree

I have been on the lookout for another loan horse as Lucy is going back to her owner in January. After a very short search, I came across Peter. He belongs to a lady called Sue and we heard about him through a friend. Peter is a 16.1, 15 year old Westphalian gelding with excellent breeding. He is by International show jumping stallion Lord Caletto, and his breeding includes Lord, Ladykiller and Cor De La Bryer lines.

Pedigree chart

LORD CALETTO GZ	LORD	LADYKILLER	SAILING LIGHT
			LONE BEECH
		VIOLA	COTTAGE SON
			RICARDA
	TERMITE	CALETTO I	COR DE LA BRYERE
			DEKA
		NORDEN	WILDFEUER
			V.77

From the moment I saw Peter, I fell in love with him. He is stunning to look at and has fantastic movement. He is a very sensitive horse but has a big springy jump, and makes everything feel easy.

I cannot describe how lucky I have been to find him as he is the horse of my dreams! I have hopes of jumping Newcomers with Peter as he has jumped these classes previously. My aim is to be jumping Newcomers classes by the summer, as this gives us time to get to know each other.

Peter came to us in November, and just had a month or so to settle in because we had constant ice and snow. This gave him chance to settle in, and in January we said goodbye to Lucy as she returned home to start her new adventure and become a Mum.

Kelsall Hill BE90

We set off for Kelsall Hill for the second time this season, after finishing 11th at the April event. I was hopeful to improve on that position, having worked hard on our flatwork.

We arrived on a lovely bright day and went to work in for the dressage. I gave Lucy her usual 50 mins to get settled and start working properly. Lucy went in and did a nice test and I was hopeful for a low 30 score. Onto the show jumping and Lucy jumped clear which was a relief. I had heard that our dressage was 34, which was our second best score of the season and I was very pleased with this.

I went to the cross country realising that a good round here could put us within grasp of a placing. It was nerve wracking to be in this position but exciting to think all our hard work could pay off. Lucy flew round the course, really taking it on to finish clear within the time. We cooled her off and put her away before waiting for the results.

I was over the moon to see we finished 5th! A huge high to the end of the season, but unfortunately the result was tinged with sadness as I knew this was our last event together . The decision has been made for Lucy to go back to her owner to be put in foal next spring, which is sad news for me bit also exciting at the prospect of becoming a Mum!

CHESTER BRITISH MASTERS 2010

Last weekend I took Lucy to Chester Racecourse for the British Masters show. This show is one of my favourites as it is an International show that attracts some of the countrys top riders. This year I booked the day off work on the Friday to go and jump the British Novice. I decided to do the one class as Lucy and I were off to Riding Club camp on the Saturday and i didnt want to over do it with her. We arrived at Chester Friday morning and the ground was fantastic considering how little rain we have had. I walked the course and it was two phase. It was a lovely large ring and a nice flowing track. I worked Lucy in and soon it was my turn to go. She jumped very well just getting a little strong and flattening in places, resulting in her having a pole down. I find outdoors she is more forward going and sometimes she runs on and gets a little long and flat, I really need to work on maintaining a shorter, bouncier canter and get her to get her hocks underneath to produce a more powerful jump. I was pleased with how she went at such a large show with an electric atmosphere. We then went straight to Kelsall for camp, we had a thoroughly enjoyable weekend and had lots of fun.