charlimouse
Well-Known Member
Seeing as my event season seems to have come to a premature end, and I am a little bored (please humour me!) I thougt I would give you guys a season round up. There have certainly been some very high highs, and some very low lows!!!!!!
The year didn't start well, by the middle on January I had fallen off 4 horses, and was to be found in A&E with bad concussion and a sprained ankle. 2 weeks later with ankle still huge and in agony I did the JAS at Bishop Burpton. Jem coming 4th in the BE90 class.
And Murphy got the winning score in the Novice (unfortunately we were HC!), and came 4th in the Open. Both qualified for the finals.
With my ankle still not right I ended up back in A&E, where they found a 2 week old fracture they had missed ont he original x-rays. The break was too old to do anything with, and did seem to be healing OK, so just told me to put a support on it, and rest it!!!
Not alot happened in Feburary, I took Jem and Murphy along to a 2 day clinc with Ken Clawson, and went to Somerford Park XC schooling
Febuary was mainly a month to try get my ankle sorted before the events started!!!!
March came, and the event season was upon me. Both horses starting at Oasby. Disaster struck the day before when Murphy came in from the field lame, with a nasty kick just above his knee. With Murphy now on box rest, all my hopes lay on Jem in the BE90. A double clear following a distinctly average dressage left us in 6th place, adding another FP to her tally from the previous year, and winning our first rosette of the season (for a ODE!).
With Jem's first BE100 of the season looming, and SJ being a definate weak link I then took he to the BE Jump Training at Bishop Burton. I was chuffed to bits with her, just having an unfortunate rail in the second round. Typically I finished 3rd, with the top 2 qualifying for the final!
Draycott at the end of March arrived, and Murphy was still off games following his kick, and having just sent off Jem's Badminton Grassroots entry I was after a good BE100 run for Jem. She didn't disappoint. A decent dressage and a double clear (her first at BE100) with a couple of XC time penalties meant we finished 4th, another rosette, and 10FP's to add.
Into April, Murphy began to come back into work, and Jem was in her final preparations for Badminton. This meant we dropped back to BE90 at Eden Valley to give her an easy run. It didn't go quite to plan when I arrived and found it was a complete bog. Did a horrific dressage (Jem is not a bog pony!) but then a clear SJ (on a surface) before withdrawing before XC. With Badminton less than 10 days away I was not going to risk running her in that ground!
Before I knew it Badminton was upon me.
Jem did a fab dressage test, unfortuntely one of the judges didn't agree, so we got 35.5 leving us quite well down the order. Onto the SJ, with clear rounds at our earlier events I was confident we could pull another out of the bag. Unfortunately it was not to be when we knocked down an innocuous (sp?) upright, which was apity as she was jumping well.
Onto the XC. It was immense, I think one of the best moments of my life! Jem sailed round making it feel so easy, very comfortably inside the time.
So we didn't trouble the leader board, but it was an amazing experiance.
Back home, and with Jem having a week off mid season holiday it was time to start getting Murphy ready for his first event back after his kick, the ON at Bradwall. We managed a good dressage, and a double clear, but I ran him slowly XC as he wasn't super fit hence we got quite a few time penalties.
We still finished 10th however, and another rosette to add to the collection!
Into May and Jem moved back up to BE100 at Richmond, and after a not so brilliant dressage, managed another double clear, and finished 9th, 2 more FP's and another rosette.
Murphy was then at Chatsworth running in the ON. I have to say Chatsworth has always been my favourite event, so was looking forwards to it, determined to do well. Murphy didn't disappoint, despite me doing my best to sabotage it by forgetting my dressage test half way through!!! A double clear followed, this time inside the time, and we finished 4th. I was pleased to note that aswell as being a fabulous event the prizes are also good!!!
The end of May meant mine and Murphy's 3rd attempt at an Intermediate (the other 2 I didn't complete!), and Jem carrying on her BE100 campaigne (sp?) at Bishop Burton. Murphy did me proud with a decent dressage, 1 down SJ and then a clear XC with not too many time penalties. We ended up 8th with 2 more BE points for Murphy's record, and i'll admit to shedding a tear as it had taken us 2 years to get then Intermediate completion, so to be placed was beyond what I had ever hoped.
Still on a high it was jem's turn. An OK dressage, and double clear inside the time left us 5th, and 8 more FP's. A good day at the office!!!!!
So into June, and Jem was running at Skipton. The SJ and XC caused carnage, so despite out 38 dressage we still finished 4th with our double clear. 10 FP's and a likit to add to the prize fund.
The end of June brought a vety soggy and muddy event at Cumwhinton. Jem did a poor dressage and had the last 2 fences down SJ after jumping a good round up to that point, a clear XC pulled us up to 14th, but disappointing after her recent form. Cumwhinton was also Murphy's first event back after his Intermediate the month before, as it had been a while I entered him for the ON to have an easy run, before Aske Intermediate the week after. His dressage was good, and a clear SJ (allbeit a little lacklustre, which I put down to the ground), meant we were in the top 3 going into XC. For some Reason Murphy never got into the XC and didn't seem to be enjoying himself. He stopped at fence 5 twice, which was so unlike him I called it a day and took him home. At home Murphy seemed fine, so I took him to Somerford for an XC school, and he was fab, back to normal Murphy, so assuming it was the ground and just an unfortunate blip we headed into July and to Aske for the Intermediate (and jem was doing the 100).
Murphy's dressage was reasonable, by the time we were SJ it was boiling hot. Murphy again felt a little lacklustre SJ, he only had 1 down, but it was hard work, and I could tell he wasn't feeling 100%. I withdrew before XC. Hoping for a better time we Jem I was thrilled with a double clear, and a good dressage, reckoning we would be 2nd I was chuffed to bits, until I saw I had got 13 TF time pens. I was so gutted, and it pushed me out of the placings.
Continued to next post.............
The year didn't start well, by the middle on January I had fallen off 4 horses, and was to be found in A&E with bad concussion and a sprained ankle. 2 weeks later with ankle still huge and in agony I did the JAS at Bishop Burpton. Jem coming 4th in the BE90 class.
And Murphy got the winning score in the Novice (unfortunately we were HC!), and came 4th in the Open. Both qualified for the finals.
With my ankle still not right I ended up back in A&E, where they found a 2 week old fracture they had missed ont he original x-rays. The break was too old to do anything with, and did seem to be healing OK, so just told me to put a support on it, and rest it!!!
Not alot happened in Feburary, I took Jem and Murphy along to a 2 day clinc with Ken Clawson, and went to Somerford Park XC schooling
Febuary was mainly a month to try get my ankle sorted before the events started!!!!
March came, and the event season was upon me. Both horses starting at Oasby. Disaster struck the day before when Murphy came in from the field lame, with a nasty kick just above his knee. With Murphy now on box rest, all my hopes lay on Jem in the BE90. A double clear following a distinctly average dressage left us in 6th place, adding another FP to her tally from the previous year, and winning our first rosette of the season (for a ODE!).
With Jem's first BE100 of the season looming, and SJ being a definate weak link I then took he to the BE Jump Training at Bishop Burton. I was chuffed to bits with her, just having an unfortunate rail in the second round. Typically I finished 3rd, with the top 2 qualifying for the final!
Draycott at the end of March arrived, and Murphy was still off games following his kick, and having just sent off Jem's Badminton Grassroots entry I was after a good BE100 run for Jem. She didn't disappoint. A decent dressage and a double clear (her first at BE100) with a couple of XC time penalties meant we finished 4th, another rosette, and 10FP's to add.
Into April, Murphy began to come back into work, and Jem was in her final preparations for Badminton. This meant we dropped back to BE90 at Eden Valley to give her an easy run. It didn't go quite to plan when I arrived and found it was a complete bog. Did a horrific dressage (Jem is not a bog pony!) but then a clear SJ (on a surface) before withdrawing before XC. With Badminton less than 10 days away I was not going to risk running her in that ground!
Before I knew it Badminton was upon me.
Jem did a fab dressage test, unfortuntely one of the judges didn't agree, so we got 35.5 leving us quite well down the order. Onto the SJ, with clear rounds at our earlier events I was confident we could pull another out of the bag. Unfortunately it was not to be when we knocked down an innocuous (sp?) upright, which was apity as she was jumping well.
Onto the XC. It was immense, I think one of the best moments of my life! Jem sailed round making it feel so easy, very comfortably inside the time.
So we didn't trouble the leader board, but it was an amazing experiance.
Back home, and with Jem having a week off mid season holiday it was time to start getting Murphy ready for his first event back after his kick, the ON at Bradwall. We managed a good dressage, and a double clear, but I ran him slowly XC as he wasn't super fit hence we got quite a few time penalties.
We still finished 10th however, and another rosette to add to the collection!
Into May and Jem moved back up to BE100 at Richmond, and after a not so brilliant dressage, managed another double clear, and finished 9th, 2 more FP's and another rosette.
Murphy was then at Chatsworth running in the ON. I have to say Chatsworth has always been my favourite event, so was looking forwards to it, determined to do well. Murphy didn't disappoint, despite me doing my best to sabotage it by forgetting my dressage test half way through!!! A double clear followed, this time inside the time, and we finished 4th. I was pleased to note that aswell as being a fabulous event the prizes are also good!!!
The end of May meant mine and Murphy's 3rd attempt at an Intermediate (the other 2 I didn't complete!), and Jem carrying on her BE100 campaigne (sp?) at Bishop Burton. Murphy did me proud with a decent dressage, 1 down SJ and then a clear XC with not too many time penalties. We ended up 8th with 2 more BE points for Murphy's record, and i'll admit to shedding a tear as it had taken us 2 years to get then Intermediate completion, so to be placed was beyond what I had ever hoped.
Still on a high it was jem's turn. An OK dressage, and double clear inside the time left us 5th, and 8 more FP's. A good day at the office!!!!!
So into June, and Jem was running at Skipton. The SJ and XC caused carnage, so despite out 38 dressage we still finished 4th with our double clear. 10 FP's and a likit to add to the prize fund.
The end of June brought a vety soggy and muddy event at Cumwhinton. Jem did a poor dressage and had the last 2 fences down SJ after jumping a good round up to that point, a clear XC pulled us up to 14th, but disappointing after her recent form. Cumwhinton was also Murphy's first event back after his Intermediate the month before, as it had been a while I entered him for the ON to have an easy run, before Aske Intermediate the week after. His dressage was good, and a clear SJ (allbeit a little lacklustre, which I put down to the ground), meant we were in the top 3 going into XC. For some Reason Murphy never got into the XC and didn't seem to be enjoying himself. He stopped at fence 5 twice, which was so unlike him I called it a day and took him home. At home Murphy seemed fine, so I took him to Somerford for an XC school, and he was fab, back to normal Murphy, so assuming it was the ground and just an unfortunate blip we headed into July and to Aske for the Intermediate (and jem was doing the 100).
Murphy's dressage was reasonable, by the time we were SJ it was boiling hot. Murphy again felt a little lacklustre SJ, he only had 1 down, but it was hard work, and I could tell he wasn't feeling 100%. I withdrew before XC. Hoping for a better time we Jem I was thrilled with a double clear, and a good dressage, reckoning we would be 2nd I was chuffed to bits, until I saw I had got 13 TF time pens. I was so gutted, and it pushed me out of the placings.
Continued to next post.............
Loving the pic of murphy jumping down a mahhooosive bank! 
oouch. 
. But it sounds like you have a good year coming up 
). So with all the students out of their halls and gathered around the courtyard (where our block faced) I ran outside, tripped over my front foot, knocked myself out and basically had a fight with the gravel. 
