Osberton International

[Red-1]

Hi all, we planned on visiting Osberton this weekend at some point to show my (not so new now) BF what eventing is all about. I tried Chatsworth in spring, to show him where I used to compete but it was cancelled. Just checked Osberton on BE and it seems to still be on!

Anyone know the state of the ground?

I used to compete up to what is now CCI** so we plan on a course walk so he can see that I wasn't always a windy old pensioner

 

[Gamebird]

Hi all, we planned on visiting Osberton this weekend at some point to show my (not so new now) BF what eventing is all about. I tried Chatsworth in spring, to show him where I used to compete but it was cancelled. Just checked Osberton on BE and it seems to still be on!

Anyone know the state of the ground?

I used to compete up to what is now CCI** so we plan on a course walk so he can see that I wasn't always a windy old pensioner

Hi, I'm local, haven't been over yet (tomorrow probably), but my friend is a retailer there and says the ground is fab, no wellies required. Osberton is generally amazing ground as it's old turf on very very sandy soil. They could have a monsoon (well, they pretty much did Monday/Tuesday) and it would be fab an hour later.

 

[Red-1]

Hi, I'm local, haven't been over yet (tomorrow probably), but my friend is a retailer there and says the ground is fab, no wellies required. Osberton is generally amazing ground as it's old turf on very very sandy soil. They could have a monsoon (well, they pretty much did Monday/Tuesday) and it would be fab an hour later.

Fabulous!

It was rubbish missing Chatsworth and then we were away for Bramham. He is new to horses and you only get one chance to make a good 1st impression!

I may be windy and old now, but I do harbour thoughts of a BE 80 and he would be groom in training for that

 

[Gamebird]

Fabulous!

It was rubbish missing Chatsworth and then we were away for Bramham. He is new to horses and you only get one chance to make a good 1st impression!

I may be windy and old now, but I do harbour thoughts of a BE 80 and he would be groom in training for that

Ha! I'm in the same boat as you. Used to do the proper big stuff, going tomorrow to do the 80cm arena eventing

 

[Red-1]

Ha! I'm in the same boat as you. Used to do the proper big stuff, going tomorrow to do the 80cm arena eventing

Ah, but you are better than me as I have had an awful few years (both mother and husband died) and I have barely ridden all summer while my horses went on livery while I had loads of groundworks/stable renovation done at home (thought I may be selling and wanted to spruce it all up).

I've had a pro rider take my horse SJ a few times, while he was on livery, but he is home now and I'm not fit enough to do that very class, and the rider who has been jumping him was not available for tomorrow! I have just started jumping again, all is well, but need a little more to be competition fit. I currently have no eye for a stride whatsoever

I may see you there, but presumably not recognise you.

 

[ester]

I’m here with rara and stormy cob the ground even feels firm in places on the driving bits! I opted for a £30 a night room as it usually grim rather than camp but forecast dry next couple of days (I do also have Netflix and heating)

We’ve dressage tomorrow, cones in one of the central arenas Saturday and obstacles Sunday. Storms pretty obvious, even the eventers were eyeing him up as we’re parked just off the course

 

[TheMule]

It looks to have been a difficult day of xc today with several long holds and the postponement of one class. I've been discussing with a friend the need to standardize the FEI levels as there is a huge disparity between the xc clear rate at different events. Taking the 2* level as an example, this should be a longer and slightly more technical Novice class. A lot of what I've seen on course photos of Osberton (and I haven’t walked it) appears to be more like Intermediate technicality and it has resulted in an xc clear rate of 50%. Obviously I know they had a lot of rain in the week, but ground conditions should be factored into the final course presented.
Now compare that to Wellington (86%), Cornbury (80%), Frickley (73%), Nunney (67%) and even Blair, which is notoriously more challenging due to the terrain (62%)
At this level courses should be encouraging and educational to develop the horse for the future, not horribly testing so that half your competitors have a bad day (22% didn’t finish, that’s more than 1 in 5)
What do others think?

 

[Chuffy99]

I wondered what was going on as thought friends were xc about 15.00

 

[TheMule]

I wondered what was going on as thought friends were xc about 15.00

Postpones until Sunday is in the 1* as they were going to run out of daylight today- running 2 hours behind

 

[SaddlePsych'D]

I wondered a bit when I had a look on eventing scores earlier and the bit where it shows people live (ish) as they progress round the XC showed I think three riders close pretty much one after the other eliminated at fence 4 (I think, it was early on course anyway) in the 2*S.

 

[Chuffy99]

Thank you TM I’ll stop going back to look

 

[Gamebird]

There was a massive hold for the air ambulance, when already running very late. They abandoned all xc after that, presumably due to time constraints. Friend in 1* was on her horse for over 2hrs before the cancellation, will be going back on Sunday to try again. We had over an hour's delay in the arena eventing as they had to stop competition twice for the air ambulance.

@TheMule Ground conditions were fabulous. It's possible there was a wet bit or two in the woods - I didn't go in there - but the rest of the ground was perfect. I walked round in trainers and jumped without studs.

 

[Tiddlypom]

Crikey, I hope that all the casualties are ok .

 

[ester]

The ground couldn’t be anymore perfect honest! (Well other than in the driving dressage arena, my spine felt 2 inches shorter once we’d finished ). They had several holds in the junior classes and the helicopter took a long time as it landed twice (different places -up the top of the hill to start but that might have been to allow everyone to get off horses at the bottom where the land ambulance was waiting).
The bits in the woods we’ve walked were all fine too, not deep.

The girl who was held for a very long time mid course did a stirling job of restarting.

We’re waiting to hear whether we will run before or after the 1* Xc on Sunday, suspect after. The sun was definitely getting low once they’d finished so I don’t think they could have run another 100 starters.

GB you might be able to explain but the xc warm up/exercise area went a bit bonkers once they’d cancelled the 1*, lots of galloping up the hill , was that the 1* peeps just trying to do something having been prepped to go? It just took us by surprise a bit.

Very relieved the pony that landed very lame early on walked away much better, was a bit heartbreaking to hear the rider obviously worried he’d done something catastrophic.

I’ve not been for a few years but found it interesting quite how many mim clips they have on course, seemed like more with than without. It’s also why I’m a bit surprised about the ground as last time I went it rained all Saturday and it was muddy then.

 

[shortstuff99]

Is it live streaming anywhere?

 

[TheMule]

Is it live streaming anywhere?

No, sadly not

 

[ihatework]

That 2*E/R rate is really weird. Looked at course photos and there were maybe one or two on upper end technicality but at first glance doesn’t look like it would cause chaos. That said photos don’t always give the full story of siting, camber etc

 

[TheMule]

That 2*E/R rate is really weird. Looked at course photos and there were maybe one or two on upper end technicality but at first glance doesn’t look like it would cause chaos. That said photos don’t always give the full story of siting, camber etc

Big corner, brush oxer, big corner all on a curving line was the one that caught my eye as being particularly tough for a Novice horse.
The 3* is now causing carnage as well, though early days, but horses like Brookfield Inocent shouldn’t really be finding it that hard!

 

[ihatework]

Big corner, brush oxer, big corner all on a curving line was the one that caught my eye as being particularly tough for a Novice horse.
The 3* is now causing carnage as well, though early days, but horses like Brookfield Inocent shouldn’t really be finding it that hard!

That’s the one that I thought was upper end tough, I wonder what % of the issues were there

 

[TheMule]

That’s the one that I thought was upper end tough, I wonder what % of the issues were there

It was fenced 12 so did cause the most problems, but plenty at other fences too

 

[ester]

Yup the 3* xc has gone much the same way so far, lots of run outs and quite a bit of falling off.

 

[Red-1]

I walked three tricky combinations.

One was a roll top then up a bank to a set of rails, which was not too tricky, but it was then only a few strides, landing on the top of a bank and steep downhill, to a severe dog leg turn, to a quite skinny but wide fence. That one also had a bush right in the middle of the take off, to further encourage a glance off.

The other was a wide corner, then oxer almost in line, but then a wide right hand turn encouraging a glance off at another corner, that also encouraged a glance off. In fact, I saw someone glance right off!

Another was a water, couldn't see where the water started until close, easy enough jump but then downhill to water which encouraged riders to be thrown forwards, then a skinny in the water then a corner on the way out, although that was a black flag one I think.

TBH, nothing was high or wide, but the tricky ones were unforgiving for those who didn't have the engine running and control. The good combinations made it all look like a walk in the park but the combinations were very unforgiving for any horse who took hold or had a look.

 

[ester]

To me the combinations came up quite quickly after each other at times too. The roll top/bank straight before the curved open corners.

It has been possible to do several long options and still be close to the time today though

 

[ester]

To me the combinations came up quite quickly after each other at times too. The roll top/bank straight before the curved open corners.

It has been possible to do several long options and still be close to the time today though