BURGHLEY 2010 - I was really impressed by...

Chloe_GHE

Chloe_GHE

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So as the forum can quite often after a big event dissolve into criticism (and not of the constructive type!) I thought it would be nice to do a communal positive post on all the good things about the event. It would be nice to hear people's positive points from those who attended, and those who watched online/on TV so here are mine to kick it off....

BURGHLEY 2010 - I was really impressed by...

* Francis Whittington's hands - Watching his xc footage online he has THE nicest hands imho, soft, often with a sag in the rein, and really independent from his body.

* Twinklebee's sjing adjustability - I don't think I've ever seen a horse so responsive, so attentive and polite to the rider the day after blasting round the xc. He (or is it a she?...) was listening waiting, shortening lengthening, it was almost a dressage display with jumps in the way (what I keep getting told sj basically supposed to be!) an absolute credit to the rider/trainer.

* 'Dog grabbing man' - Full marks to the guy who thought 'well I'll try and catch that bl**dy dog!' it ran past loads of people, but he was the one to try and stop it even if it did slip the net, good effort!
 
Very good post!
I was very impressed by Lenamore's show jumping...an obvious one i know.

Was also very impressed by Phoebe Buckley's riding XC. I know it all went wrong but up to then she was so accurate.
 
I only saw the highlights on TV, but i am officially in love with Twinkle Bee, looked like s/he was going around a PC hunter trial in the XC. Such a sweet, honest horse.
 
Andrew Nicolson's xc round on Armada, Emily Llewellyn's maturity and I just love her little horse, Hannah Kirkhill's (forgive me if I have the name spelt incorrectly) focus (and her horses's) when being chased by the yappy little dog. Lenamore and Caroline Powell, along with Springalong, has always been one of my fav partnerships!
 
I have loved Lennamore for years - mostly because he reminds me of my boy who i sold in May after a decade of fun together...
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And Twinklebee - amazing. Soo reminds me of my boy...maybe one day...just maybe...
I think there are a lot of similarities!
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Nick Gauntlett was ace through the water with no stirrups and i was impressed by Emily Llewellyn...looks like a very mature rider for her mere 21 years.

Also Aaron Millar had a cracking XC round on another veteran Stormstay at 17 years young - unfortunately he was withdrawn before the SJ as they were not 100% happy with him :(
 
Nice idea for a thread, good one!
Okay, haven't watched all the vids yet, but so far:
Sticking my own neck out here, I know:
I thought Apache Sauce looked much more comfortable in the neck than ever before (I wonder if she's had him specially treated?), both on the flat and over the fences, far less teapotty/braced. Hence vastly improved dressage mark too.
Mary was much more with her horses, no horrible mid-air-EDT moments. A real pleasure to watch her again. Yay. I've always thought she was the ultimate stylist, beautiful to watch on the flat and over fences, so I didn't enjoy the exaggeratedly-defensive phase she went through.
Nick Gauntlett rode more fluidly and elegantly imvvvvvho. ;) ;)
[because I'm sure some people will see some implied retro-criticism here, and HOW DARE I since I've never ridden at that level etc etc]
Alex Peternell looked much better too, I know it all went v wrong at the arena fence, but up to then, apart from when his horse ignored him at the pagoda fence, it was good. Very quick reactions from him to recover at first water, and super honest horse to stay straight and want to jump the third brush from there.
AN on Armada. Awesomely subtle riding of a very keen and hugely scopey horse.
AN on Avebury, not even moving in the saddle when it nose-butted the treasure chest at Disco Valley. (I think I'd have fallen off in shock.)
Lauren Shannon. Really really impressive.
Twinkle Bee's sj, agreed. Also the impressive way he just lobs around the xc, never looking in a hurry etc.
Aistis Vikauskas. Super up until it went wrong, shame he was on SUCH a misser to totally the wrong fence to miss at! Some other riders had missers and the horses just sorted themselves out, but that fence really doesn't lend itself to that...
Laura Collett - what a lovely rider she is. Especially poised and elegant on the flat, pale gloves, and hands hardly moving.
Toddy - what a huge pleasure to see him at 4* again.
Lots more to follow I'm sure... ;)
 
Lauren Shannon on both horses, her rounds were stunning to watch even tho her first ride went a little bit wrong.....

also the guy that tried to catch the dog turn out to be stuart Buntine, xc jump bulider (oasby, Belton, Osberton) and hannah did so well to cope with that dog to!
 
Twinklebee was awesome he went round the xc so effortlessly!! And Armadas round was very well riden, looked very excited and pingy :D Also liked Ruth Edges dressage and very glad to see Pippa Funnell back at 4*
 
Only watched TV highlights package so far, but... Lenamore all over: he's always been a jumping machine so once he'd done such a wonderful test I always thought the writing was on the wall :) I thought the Swedish boy's XC round was class itself - such a great rhythm which never altered :) Louise Skelton's XC round on Pickle - she'll never win a tidiness competition but she just went out there and attacked every fence which was just how the course rode best, and he isn't always the most generous horse but he definitely was up for it this weekend (Hope Barney went well too, he's the easy one, haven't checked the full results yet) :) Emily Llewellyn, very classy; Pippa Funnell - nursed an inexperienced horse round who started out looking very green and finished looking full of confidence, great performance and bodes well ;)

Twinklebee was amazing XC - any horse which could go on 2 STRIDES through the Trout Hatchery :o and take a stride out at the Cascades combo and make it look easy has my respect :) However, I'm going to go against the grain and say I'm not such a fan of his SJ - to me he's either a bit long and strung out or bouncing on the spot, difficult to get him in a flowing balanced rhythm, but then, what do I know :D Class SJ rounds for me were Lenamore (obviously), Lead the Way (not surprisingly) and Be My Guest.
 
(only watched the 1st 8 on burghley tv XC rounds and then bbc highlights)

the over all level of riding from YR's
Nick Gauntletts "He's a star!" moment
AN - just wow the control he has in his upperbody just so balanced!
MK - the strength and control in her legs
Alex HT's determination to try and stay on
And
Lead the Way and Clea - I've always loved this horse and was just in awe of his XC and SJ rounds
 
Clayton did an amazing job with Be My Guest. Clayton more than any other rider seems to get average horses to do great things (what has Poilu done since Clayton?!?)
I am just glad he looks like he has a superstar in Bendigo.

Louise rode really well on Pickle and you could see that she often made up his mind for him with such positive riding.
 
Watching Avebury head butt the Discovery Valley chest and AN sitting like nothing had gone wrong, keeping going, very impressive. I did hear that an AN Nicholson quote that the best way to get a good tune out of a Jumbo horse was to 'ride it like you stole it'!!! ;)

That Swedish boy's dressage test - wow. Super and what a test to pull out at your first Burghley. William Fox-Pitt riding Seacookie - horse looked at times a little backwards, what a ride he gave that to come second. Lead the Way in the SJing, that is a class class horse - wonder why they never get mentioned as regards teams, he's such a nice horse and Clea rides him beautifully (did you see anyone else go XC in a hackamore?!).
 
Lenamore (obviously ;) he just enjoys his job so much and CP got such pleasure out of her jumping rounds. I think 'fair play' to his owners, it is a brave decision to withdraw from WEG selection when your horse is still at peak form, I am happy they won they deserved it.

I also liked Twinkle Bee, loving the fact that he went round the XC with his ears flat back like a riding school ned and then looked like a different horse in the SJ ears pricked and ready to go - he was gorgeous.

Also thought Mcfly was going nicely, didn't see Nicola's incident as was watching on Burghley TV - glad all are well :):)
 
I thought the organisation of the event was brilliant, the traffic control was way better than badminton.

I love the celebrity talk area with Jonty, have never been to an event before where they had the top 3 together for an interview and answering questions after the x-country.

FW was a class act throughout the competition and what a nice guy.

Lenamore - really deserved his win, his dressage was just lovely - no hint of the naughty pony coming out.

Mary King standing for more than an hour in the sun on the friday signing autographs and posing for photos.
 
I loved Geoff Curans round - very classy and good horse.

WFP rode both his horses really nicely - he had his horses perfect at every fence

Twinklebee - what a horse -made the track look like a PN and just popped over everything, and in the showjumping showed how polite he is by coming back and waiting for the signal from the rider!
 
LEC said:
Clayton did an amazing job with Be My Guest. Clayton more than any other rider seems to get average horses to do great things (what has Poilu done since Clayton?!?)
I am just glad he looks like he has a superstar in Bendigo.

Louise rode really well on Pickle and you could see that she often made up his mind for him with such positive riding.
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I agre, Clayton really was amazing, considering he's only been riding her for 3 months. I was hoping he'd get a nice result as he didn't get much luck this year with his 2 top horses for the WEG getting injured but certainly didn't believe he'd end up on the podium. His face at the end of his round was a picture, he could hardly believe it ! Don't know what happened to Poilu, hasn't done anything since he's been sent over to Chris King. Shame as he had lots of potential even though his showjumping was a bit of a liability.
Bendigo should be really a really great horse, looking forward to seeing him doing a 4*
 
i think the guys in the background who spend all year getting to XC going so perfect in a year when every where else has been so hard, they work so hard and deserve a round of applause themselves.
but Caroline and gorgeous lenamore have to be the best this year to finish on their dressage score with so much pressure on what a high to go to WEG on!
 
seing lenamore do so well it was so deserved!

Alex trying to stay on bless him he must hate those corners.

I love seing the riders appreciate there horses saw so many give them a big pat when they did well or had a dodgy moment.

loved watching mary, william and AN make it look so easy
 
Lenamore and Caroline Powell were the class of the field for sure.

Really enjoyed AN on Armarda, that was a XC masterclass.

Francis Whittington was super and Im so pleased he had a change of luck.

Super riding from the Sweedish rider and the Lituanian (felt so sorry for the latter, I think the horse wanted to take off behind the little hedge and then realised he couldnt!).

Emily Llewellyn rode a classy round as did Laura Collet. I think the future of team GB is safe in their hands.

Twinklebee was amazing when he nearly fell in the arena but just picked himself up and jumped the fence. What a super partnership they have.

Generally I was super impressed with all of the riders and the attitude they have towards their horses. A tip top day.

I have watched Nicola and McFly on Burghley TV and they looked amazing. Such a shame they had an unlucky fall. So pleased they are ok and will live to fight another day.
 
Geoff Curran and The Jump Jet-watched him warm up for his dressage on thursday and was as absolute pleasure to watch, lovely and light and flowing.
AN's ride on Armarda was text book-superb to watch.
Kate Wallis and Alter Ego-Really liked seeing a non-typical horse looking so good.
Carousel Quest-Looked in superb condition (as did many of the others but he just stuck out in my mind)
Mark Todd-Such a skillful rider, he gave that horse a lovely first 4*
Christoffer Forsberg (the swede) and Graffman-just looked so thrilled the whole time :D
And many many more things! It was the first time I've been to any sort of event apart from Olympia and it seemed incredibly well organised and ran beautifully
Oh and the commentator for finding so much random stuff to talk about during the course hold!

ETS: Sooooo pleased for Francis Wittington! He's such a lovely young man, has a smile and a kind word for everyone and does so much for the sport, nice to see him do well!
 
Lead the Way has an American gag/hackamore combination for xc. I have followed him since a 6yo and absolutely love him as he is the best of NH breeding. His dressage is still a bit behind at the moment and I think there is more to come. He has had some hit and miss results but he seems to always do well at Burghley. He has also been taken slowly.
 
I loved Alter Ego. Thought the round was a joy, she clearly just wanted to get round, safe & sound & wasn't bothered about the time. Her face at the end said it all & how great to see what looked like an irish hunter gallop round like that.

I loved Mary's interview regarding going wrong in her test - highly amusing.

Why isn't Clea Philips on teams, that is the class horse for me, just amazing to watch.
 
V pleased for Francis Whittington that he managed to showjump. I saw the horse pull up after the XC, and it looked absolutely crippled behind - almost as if it was starting to tie up. He jumped off it a couple of strides after he got it into walk. It did start to look better as they walked it away, and I wondered if it has finished like that before - anyway, must have been fine in the end as looked well SJ the next day.

Loved the way Rosie Thomas on Barry's Best went and hugged him when reunited with him after he had dragged her - luckily in trot - after she came off and her foot got stuck on the stirrup. Must have been terrifying, but at least he didnt bolt!
 
I only saw the highlights, but:

- Mary King's smile when told she had gone wrong in the dressage. The woman has class and behaves impecably in every situation!

- Emily Llewellyn's riding x-country, was superb, you would never know how young she is

- my heart was in my mouth for Francis Whittington, so glad it all came together for him!
 
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