Great Tew Novice

[Matafleur]

Could anyone tell me if Great Tew would be a good first Novice? I have looked at the course pics and it looks lovely but they can be deceptive.

My horse is a 6yr old and was clear xc at all her BE100's last year except for Dauntsey where we got stuck in the mud at one of the simplest fences! We also did the Novice at Broadway to finish and had 1 stop (I didn't kick at the trakehner) and lots of time penalties. It felt fine but I did go slowly as it was my first Novice and was quite a big deal to me.

Before Tew we would have done 4, possibly 5 BE100's. My provisional plan is Novice at Tew followed by BE100 at Purston and then hopefully (if Tew went well) back up to Novice at ALW in July.

If anyone could tell me if the SJ is usually big and if it has a treble or not that would be helpful. We are very confident at Discovery and have done a couple of NC's but not really established at that level yet.

Any feedback would be much appreciated

 

[BroadfordQueen]

xc was on the smaller side but technical (a tricky step down to skinny on a curve, lots of combinations etc). sj caused mayhem last year, but I somehow went clear and my horse wasn't the most careful showjumper so don't know how that happened! IMO if you can get some more sj practice in at NC height you should be fine

 

[Matafleur]

Thanks BQ, I'd rather have smaller and technical, it's the enormous tables that scare me! The SJ would be fine if I didn't stop kicking when they got a bit bigger, Novice height would still be very easy for the horse - it's all in my head

 

[BroadfordQueen]

This jump was quite big, but its brush so not like a big table:

 

[Matafleur]

Whilst I would agree that it is a huuuuge fence it is somehow much more inviting than a table!

 

[Vix1978]

I thought Gt Tew was a nice novice. Was only my big lads second run at novice (first being Broadway) for 2 down sj and a silly stop xc at those dreaded left handed corners that always catch us out
SJ was causing carnage though - treble to finish and a spooky fence right next to hospitaility, coupled with an inflatable slide and bouncy castle next to everything! However, I loved the event and is definatley in the schedule for this year

 

[lynds81]

The SJ normally uses very plastic fillers and wings, but with wooden poles, so last year a lot of people were having problems at a green fake brush type fence, and I think where it is quite spooky and the fences appear plastic it can cause horses to roll poles. However, it's not particularly big, and is one of the more strightforward tracks in terms of technicality. It does normally have a treble in as well.

The XC is lovely and is very inviting; there is nothing huge - I think one reasonable sized haycart which is quite wide, and the brush someone has put up above, but on the whole nothing huge. The fence that does cause problems is where you go off a big drop and then have to go on a curve and angle a skinny on (I think!) 3 strides.

I would say that it's a nice course to do as a first one as long as your horse isn't ridiculously spooky in the SJ - and it has a lovely atmosphere.

 

[Matafleur]

Brilliant, thanks everyone

Horse is not really spooky to SJ so hopefully we will be fine. I think we will go there for our first Novice providing everything else goes to plan

 

[TrakEventer]

Where did you find course photos of Great Tew's Novice? Thanks!

 

[Matafleur]

Where did you find course photos of Great Tew's Novice? Thanks!

On www.Eventingworldwide.com