Scone Horse Trials

khalswitz said:
I’ve been very impressed with Scone. Love that the XC is a bit quicker to get to!

I’d say that is seemed to spread people out much better than Blair did. The rings also seem more horse friendly to me - the atmosphere in the main arena and the 2 second arenas at Blair were very intense for horses, but all 4 arenas at Scone seem less mind blowing, I don’t know why! Something to do with the layout of the trade stands and lots of trees dotted about.

I will say I miss the spectacular scenery of Blair - the mountains all around, the white castle on the hill, the crazy hilly cross country etc is pretty irreplaceable. However as one has done an amazing job of pulling together an event that feels like it’s been running for years.

So sorry to hear about the fatalities. The ground is very hard, we noticed.

ETA: Two minor complaints. The campsite is right next to a major road so is pretty noisy with traffic - at 4am on Saturday morning a lorry driver thought it was very funny to blast his horn all the way past. It was quite funny tbh but some won’t have seen the funny side!

Other complaint is lack of Joules event tops. Sold out of everything but child and massive sizes by Saturday morning at 9.30!

Last is an interesting observation. The first water (fence 7) caused chaos in the 2* and then weirdly in the 4*L too - a fairly innocuous looking log with a drop into the water then canter out over the skinny hedges. But there were loads of sticky jumps and a lot of refusals and even falls.

Partway through the 4*L, we realised that there was no pipe flowing into the water - so it was glassy still. A lad got the job of splashing his rake in the water every time the whistles went for another horse, and with ripples on the surface it jumped way better.
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I agree with everything you have said. Blair was special but I think it had got too big for the location.

Just wanted to add to your comments about fence 7 on the xc. I watched a few go through in the 2* (just after the accident elsewhere). During the hold they were faffing around with the water jump and there was a lad in the water with a pump contraption spraying water on to the surface. He stayed in the water and continued to do this when the riders started again. So the horses approaching couldn't see him but couldn't hear him splashing around and could see a jet of water where they were about to jump in.
No wonder there a lot of refusals and awkward jumps. 🙈. These were young event horses so a bit unfair on them in my opinion.
I don't know what happened later on - my nerves couldn't take any more so I continued up the hill.
 
LeneHorse said:
I agree with everything you have said. Blair was special but I think it had got too big for the location.

Just wanted to add to your comments about fence 7 on the xc. I watched a few go through in the 2* (just after the accident elsewhere). During the hold they were faffing around with the water jump and there was a lad in the water with a pump contraption spraying water on to the surface. He stayed in the water and continued to do this when the riders started again. So the horses approaching couldn't see him but couldn't hear him splashing around and could see a jet of water where they were about to jump in.
No wonder there a lot of refusals and awkward jumps. 🙈. These were young event horses so a bit unfair on them in my opinion.
I don't know what happened later on - my nerves couldn't take any more so I continued up the hill.
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Fence 7 was the bogey fence in the 2* but there was still a 68% clear XC jumping rate in the class. The stillness of the water I think led the initial horses to think they were landing on a solid/mud surface. Even with the agitation they were tending to land quite flat footed.

One takeaway I had yesterday was just how responsive the team were being. I saw a led horse spooked by a tannoy next to the horse walk to XC warmup. Nothing dramatic, but it reversed back into the rope. Immediately the nearest official radioed it over, the sound was cut to that tannoy and the whole thing was moved further away from where the horses were. You could also see XC officials circulating constantly. I overheard discussions about management of fences with mim clips at the upright gate and the coffin fence in the 4* which were both taking a few knocks. I have to say I was really impressed.
 
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LeneHorse said:
I agree with everything you have said. Blair was special but I think it had got too big for the location.

Just wanted to add to your comments about fence 7 on the xc. I watched a few go through in the 2* (just after the accident elsewhere). During the hold they were faffing around with the water jump and there was a lad in the water with a pump contraption spraying water on to the surface. He stayed in the water and continued to do this when the riders started again. So the horses approaching couldn't see him but couldn't hear him splashing around and could see a jet of water where they were about to jump in.
No wonder there a lot of refusals and awkward jumps. 🙈. These were young event horses so a bit unfair on them in my opinion.
I don't know what happened later on - my nerves couldn't take any more so I continued up the hill.
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Ah, we arrived at 7 not long after the course hold - saw it riding horribly but didn’t realise he had a pump as we were sat above the water. That would explain it! Later on a different lad was using a rake to splash before the 4*L horses arrived at the fence and got out the way - even then, fence 7 caused a few problems in the 4*L class too with a horse and rider fall.

rhino said:
Fence 7 was the bogey fence in the 2* but there was still a 68% clear XC jumping rate in the class. The stillness of the water I think led the initial horses to think they were landing on a solid/mud surface. Even with the agitation they were tending to land quite flat footed.

One takeaway I had yesterday was just how responsive the team were being. I saw a led horse spooked by a tannoy next to the horse walk to XC warmup. Nothing dramatic, but it reversed back into the rope. Immediately the nearest official radioed it over, the sound was cut to that tannoy and the whole thing was moved further away from where the horses were. You could also see XC officials circulating constantly. I overheard discussions about management of fences with mim clips at the upright gate and the coffin fence in the 4* which were both taking a few knocks. I have to say I was really impressed.
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Yeah they just didn’t jump it well at all - and we expect the experienced horses to ace it but they didn’t really either.

I agree - they spoke a lot about making Scone a horse welfare focused event ahead of time, and I’ve seen a lot of evidence that they’ve actually done that. Not long watched past a horse that was on the floor in the warmup having tangled up in its reins and there was a load of staff clearing folk out the way and the tannoys all off etc. Really well organised.
 
Watching scores come up (will not pay for Clip my Horse) on Eventing Scores is fascinating……watching 4S at moment
It would be good if there was just a little more information ie was Pippa Funnel E a fall, who didn’t make it through horse inspection (1st or final) that type of information….on Rechenstelle if you click on a particular horse that information comes up…or am I not seeing the “button” for that?
 
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Marshpiper said:
Watching scores come up (will not pay for Clip my Horse) on Eventing Scores is fascinating……watching 4S at moment
It would be good if there was just a little more information ie was Pippa Funnel E a fall, who didn’t make it through horse inspection (1st or final) that type of information….on Rechenstelle if you click on a particular horse that information comes up…or am I not seeing the “button” for that?
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I haven't found the button either.

Well done Laura and Ros. Neck and neck to the end made for a very exciting competition.
 
Marshpiper said:
Watching scores come up (will not pay for Clip my Horse) on Eventing Scores is fascinating……watching 4S at moment
It would be good if there was just a little more information ie was Pippa Funnel E a fall, who didn’t make it through horse inspection (1st or final) that type of information….on Rechenstelle if you click on a particular horse that information comes up…or am I not seeing the “button” for that?
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Nicnac said:
I haven't found the button either.

Well done Laura and Ros. Neck and neck to the end made for a very exciting competition.
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Eventing Scores doesn't have the Rechenstelle level of detail, for any event sadly, but still a wonderful resource. BE/FEI results will do once event is over.
 
bonnysmum said:
Or the Miele's Gelateria stand (which, I discovered too late, also sells cheaper coffee than the other stands, plus savoury snacks).
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I noticed coffee varied in price. Paid £4.50 for my first coffee (at coffee & churro) then £3 just round the corner at the barista coffee stand and it was so much nicer.
 
How awful about the two horse fatalities. Not sure I could continue to appreciate the event after that, seems in poor taste. Perhaps the event should be reviewed. Two fatalities in a day is shocking.
 
Nocturnal said:
How awful about the two horse fatalities. Not sure I could continue to appreciate the event after that, seems in poor taste. Perhaps the event should be reviewed. Two fatalities in a day is shocking.
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It seems that they were both freak incidents- not related to fences, unfortunately the kinds of thing that can and do happen to horses everyday
 
Nocturnal said:
How awful about the two horse fatalities. Not sure I could continue to appreciate the event after that, seems in poor taste. Perhaps the event should be reviewed. Two fatalities in a day is shocking.
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I agree with the fact it's awful but anyone who does horses knows damn well the dangers and risks whether you spectate or ride. Events would shut down left right and centre if they called the whole thing off anytime a fatality happened.
 
It felt to me as if they had very much underestimated the number of spectators who would turn up - we got there about 10am on Saturday and they had run out of programmes! Also the toilets - they were horrible (I didn't ever find the nice ones with running water, or know they existed!) and there were queues at all of them all day, even right at the far end of the XC course. Lots of the food trade stands seemed to be starting to run out by early Sat afternoon too. It will be interesting to go next year and see if they have judged it better.
 
soloequestrian said:
It felt to me as if they had very much underestimated the number of spectators who would turn up - we got there about 10am on Saturday and they had run out of programmes! Also the toilets - they were horrible (I didn't ever find the nice ones with running water, or know they existed!) and there were queues at all of them all day, even right at the far end of the XC course. Lots of the food trade stands seemed to be starting to run out by early Sat afternoon too. It will be interesting to go next year and see if they have judged it better.
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Sometimes it takes running an event for the first time to learn what you actually need though. Not an easy job.

I remember going to the first Wellington post Covid lockdowns - they had severely underestimated how many people would turn up, and that's a team who really know how to run a competition.
 
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soloequestrian said:
Also the toilets - they were horrible (I didn't ever find the nice ones with running water, or know they existed!) and there were queues at all of them all day, even right at the far end of the XC course.
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They were portaloos, they are what they are. Nowhere near the queues there were at Blair, maybe a two minute wait with a few other people mingling around a very long line of loos. I thought there were loads and they were generally fine (also there on Saturday) 😊
 
bonnysmum said:
They were portaloos, they are what they are. Nowhere near the queues there were at Blair, maybe a two minute wait with a few other people mingling around a very long line of loos. I thought there were loads and they were generally fine (also there on Saturday) 😊
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There wasn't just portaloos, there were multiple portakabin type ones dotted around too which had proper running water. I really appreciated having these there too and there were loads of the portaloos too!
 
Marshpiper said:
Watching scores come up (will not pay for Clip my Horse) on Eventing Scores is fascinating……watching 4S at moment
It would be good if there was just a little more information ie was Pippa Funnel E a fall, who didn’t make it through horse inspection (1st or final) that type of information….on Rechenstelle if you click on a particular horse that information comes up…or am I not seeing the “button” for that?
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Pip's posted to say 'sore arse day for me but my pony is fine'
 
Hi does anyone know if the horse that may have fell at the end of the 1* is ok? I believe it may have been NERO D'AVOLA and Richard Long, apologies if that is not correst but hoping everyone is ok
 
Just home after being at Scone for all four days. I think the organisers did a fantastic job for the first year. It isn't as spectacular back drop as Blair but still very nice. It felt very busy so it was great so many people were supporting it but the members lawn was packed and some people struggled to find a seat which isn't great when you've paid so much for membership. The catering in the members was pretty good with a good choice for snacks, we didn't eat a full meal so can't comment on that. I just hope the bar man making up the Pimms on Thursday was re-educated on the quantities needed - it was really potent, the subsequent days were fine! It was interesting that by Saturday they had stopped searching people's bags for alcohol by Saturday, I imagine that would have caused huge queues! They also dropped the no dogs in the member's marquee rule quickly too. Running out of programmes wasn't good but hopefully that will be rectified next year. Many people did complain about how far away the campsite was from the main showground and several people I know had to drive between as they were unable to walk that distance for various reasons. One stallholder I know was complaining about the 6pm curfew for all the food and drink outlets as she said at Blair many stallholders socialised together in the evenings at bars and food stalls after their own stalls shut.

To the poster who mentioned the event clothing, you didn't miss out on much. There were only polo shirts and someone from Joules had made a huge c*** up.The front of them had a small patch and the back a massive patch on it as they had originally been embroidered with Defender on them who obviously weren't sponsors so had to be covered up - the original embroidery can clearly be seen from the inside and they were charging £60 for adult sizes!

XC had a different feel to Blair but I didn't see so many tired horses as it wasn't as hilly. The first water, as others have said caused some issues, I saw Matthew Heath having words with the guy in the water after his horse stopped in the 2*. Obviously the fatalities are very sad but do sound like they were just freak things that sadly do happen on occasion. The fence judge who was run over by a loose horse was a very sad incident, my son caught the bridleless horse when it back to the stables. My son was working as part of the event stables management team and said on the whole it went well, the site management team were very good and sorted any problems very quickly. The distance between the racecourse stables which were used for the 4* horses and the othe other FEI stables made some things more tricky rather than having all the horses together. The stables were also further away from the main areas then at Blair so there was more running around to do for them.

The weather was obviously a huge bonus, it was lovely not to be trudging around in boots and coats. Now my friends and I are just waiting to hear what the dates are for next year!
 
Great to see the event so well supported by the top riders, and hopefully the experience and course has been enough to encourage them to return next year

The fatalities were incredibly sad, but total freak accidents unrelated to each other, and not caused by any failing on anyone's part - just horrible bad luck they both happened on the same day at one event

They've really pulled off a great first event - it can only get better from here!
 
MagicMelon said:
Now a fence judge has been run over by a bolting horse on the XC and been amulanced away I believe. The horse is fine from what Ive heard.
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Hi I was wondering what happened, I thought the bolting horse had fell as the tent was up but assume it was this incident? It was in the 1* today? Been worried for horse and rider on the outcome but do we know if the judge is ok?
 
Orangina said:
There wasn't just portaloos, there were multiple portakabin type ones dotted around too which had proper running water. I really appreciated having these there too and there were loads of the portaloos too!
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I feel like I must have been at a different event.... I didn't see a single portacabin loo the whole day. At Blair the portacabins were there as you came through the entrance so very easy to find. In the afternoon I ended up in a horrible portaloo with soap all over my hands and no loo roll, hand towels or water to get it off with. Many of them were like this - the toilet full and everything else empty. That never happened to me at Blair.
 
soloequestrian said:
I feel like I must have been at a different event.... I didn't see a single portacabin loo the whole day. At Blair the portacabins were there as you came through the entrance so very easy to find. In the afternoon I ended up in a horrible portaloo with soap all over my hands and no loo roll, hand towels or water to get it off with. Many of them were like this - the toilet full and everything else empty. That never happened to me at Blair.
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I also didn't see a single portacabin loo, but after the experience of a public composting toilet in Death Valley (which scarred me for life) I'm generally unfazed by portaloos 🤣
 
Nonameben said:
Hi I was wondering what happened, I thought the bolting horse had fell as the tent was up but assume it was this incident? It was in the 1* today? Been worried for horse and rider on the outcome but do we know if the judge is ok?
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Jump judge has a broken collar bone, several ribs and her right hand. Having surgery today. Poor soul!

That was what you would have seen with the screens at the last fence.
 
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