My parents had made the trip down and were staying in a local B&B (which was not without drama, naturally, as they arrived to discover that the place they had booked a month or so ago had shut down!  Luckily a kind lady around the corner agreed to put them up) and we had a lovely supper discussing impending season excitements… ie Badminton! 

Zul had been extremely calm on the Saturday, and I didn’t really think anything of it until he hit two fences in the show-jumping warm up the following morning.  He did perk up a bit in the arena but still had the first fence as well as one in the final combination down, which is extremely unlike him and consequently started a mild panic in my Mum and I, who debated rapidly whether or not to run him across country.  As we were frantically fussing over him, comically worrying why he wasn’t being wild when the grease was lathered on, my Dad was standing steadfastly by his calm theory that Zul was just so grown up these days, that he didn’t need to stress out.  Thankfully that turned out to be true, to a large extent, as he stormed round the cross-country and passed all his blood tests with flying colours on Monday morning.  It’s easy to forget, particularly when you are so primed for perfection with only having one top horse, that they can have bad days too, so I’m going to forgive him that show-jumping blip, and having spoken to Katy, the Top Spec guru, we’re actually going to increase his energy levels, to reintroduce some manageable sparkle!  In the end we were 3^rd, which actually wasn’t too bad a result, particularly as a bad dress rehearsal ends in a brilliant performance… or so they say…!!

The following week was Burnham Market, where my boyfriend was going to get a reasonably brutal introduction into the world of Eventing!  I picked him up from the airport on Tuesday, and on Wednesday we set off to Norfolk, packed to the gunnels with food, horses and people.  The organisers obviously thought they’d like to challenge my brain to the maximum, by putting ALL of my horses on the Thursday – which included both Pre-Novices as well as Perky’s CIC** Dressage, and that of Woody, who was in the CIC***.  By some small miracle I actually remembered all of the tests, but instead managed to miss out a fence cross-country on Harley. The most irritating thing about it was that I remember galloping up to it, only seeing the yellow marker and thinking ‘gosh that looks quite big, it can’t be pre-novice’ and charging on by! How ridiculous.  All in all it was an average start to the week as Perky took a sudden and very strong dislike to my slightly spiky spurs (that she gets ridden in every day, of course) which resulted in a not so winning score, and whilst Woody did a very nice test, he didn’t wow the judges quite as much as I had hoped.  Still, it wasn’t raining, which was a huge plus!

Fast-forwarding to the action on Saturday, and again we had a mixed day… The show-jumping was actually a bog by this stage – with a large number of PN combinations never having made it round the course – and I was a little apprehensive about how my two would fare. Perky jumped fabulously though, and flew round the cross-country like a bird, reminding me so much of the amazing Little Beau. Wow, I feel so lucky to have her.  Woody however had less success and a lot more drama; just before I was about to go into the show-jumping I was cantering along the roadside fence, and asked for a change.  This resulted in a buck/change, followed by a loud ‘ping’ and we were suddenly charging across the warm up field with a large strand of wire in tow.  Somehow he managed to get his leg caught on the other side of the strand of wire running across the top of the fence, and as he came down he pulled the whole thing down with him, pulling it off the fence and across the field.  This clearly wasn’t the ideal pre-round preparation, and contributed largely I feel to the fact he proceeded to have a ridiculous five rails down – all behind.  Thankfully it was superficial, but just to make things a little more stressful, when I finally arrived at the xc start, having got the vet to check him, I was told that I couldn’t go as I’d missed my time!  Obviously I wasn’t thrilled about this, and after a good deal of persuasion the FEI steward relinquished her grip on the slightly obscure ‘rules’ and away we went.  He gave me the most fantastic ride, and although I kept the handbrake on a little he absolutely flew round, reminding me that he is probably the best cross-country horse I’ve got at the moment, and just how fun this sport is!

The rest of this month has been a bit of a washout, although I was lucky enough to be able to run at Hambleden with Harley and Babe, before they cancelled. Both were stars actually with Harl producing his first double clear, and Babe unluckily just being four faults off doing the same.  The hail once we’d finished was ridiculous though – I remember standing in the score tent, and just watching as a white carpet formed outside! Mental. 

The only other excitement I’ve had has been doing another talk on my GB team and medal aspirations, which I performed at a local Rotary Club Lunch.  I actually really enjoy these functions (not least because I get provided with a very tasty meal!), but it’s also great to meet these experienced business men and try and absorb as much of their ‘success mantra’ as I can, whilst also getting paid!

 As April draws quickly to a close, all that’s on the mind now is Badminton, and whether Zul and I can live up to our expectations… how exciting!!        

There is still a lot to get through before then though, and there’s no point thinking about it too much – I tend to be quite fatalistic.  The season has kicked off well, and having just read my blog from this exact time last year, I can’t believe how much my set up has developed.  I was dreading Tweseldown after last year, where I was completely taken aback by the level of professionalism and immaculate behaviour of all the horses, at the first southern event of the season… of course, mine were not well behaved and I discovered I was clearly well behind schedule.  This time I was determined not to let that be the case.  In addition to spending a good deal of time at AM Dressage (Adam Kemp and Matt Frost’s wonderful place) before Christmas, I found myself zooming up and down to Addington at regular intervals in the proceeding couple of months in order to get my equine partners atmosphere friendly again.  Thankfully it seemed to pay off!  Which was a great relief, as I did have moments of pre-season panic, fearing that despite it all I would still look a bit ‘wild’ compared to these beautifully manicured southern combinations with large entourages!  Woody (Longwood) and Perky (Pavonita) were extremely well behaved and both got 32 Dressage’s and double clears, so it was a good start.    

Lincoln was next on the agenda, and Lucy (my head girl) and I trucked up the M1 full of hopes for Zul’s first outing.  My parents came down to watch and took us out for supper, which was a real treat – not just because my lorry went on electrical strike, thus ruling out lights/ heating etc – but also as I realised I hadn’t actually seen them since New Year.  Time does fly, but it was really nice for them to see the horses again, and in particular how much all three of them had strengthened up over the winter.  Zul did a really lovely test putting him in the top 5 of a pretty competitive field, which he followed up with a great clear show-jumping, so it was all to play for cross-country.  Unfortunately he was feeling a bit too pleased with himself, and was too busy feeling wonderful to notice the skinny angled brush at fence 4a, which resulted in a costly run-out.  However, it was a good wake up call and after a little ‘reminder’ he jumped both elements perfectly, and we had a lovely canter around the rest. 

Woody and Perky didn’t excel themselves in the show-jumping on this occasion; they were much later on and the arena had become extremely sticky, due to a large deluge of rain, which I am sure accounted for their rolled poles.  Perky didn’t go cross-country, but Woody was his usual enthusiastic springing self, giving me an extremely fun ride to end the day.  I was sorry to say goodbye to my parents again, after what seemed such a brief encounter, but at least they’re coming to watch Zul again at Belton in a couple of weeks, by which stage the season really will be underway! 

Zulu is the oldest of our homebred horses and has always been very special. He is out of my Dad’s hunter – who had a fantastic jump – and by Welton Apollo. He is very intelligent and enthusiastic; as a youngster he use to undo his stable bolt and clip, and go along the line releasing his friends for a midnight canter! He always tries his hardest and loves performing to an audience.

Zulu has won at every level up to Advanced now, was 2nd at the U21 Championships as a 7yr old (which was also his first 3-day event), and was 3rd at Burgie CCI** in ’10.

Last year he has topped that by producing two double clears at CCI*** : finishing 6th in the U25 Championships at Bramham, and 9th at Blenheim, where he and Charlotte were also the 3rd best British combination.

TOP RESULTS 2011:

9th Blenheim CCI*** (jumped double clear)

2nd Aston-le-Walls: AU25

6th Bramham: CCI*** U25 Championships (jumped double clear)

10th Belton: AU25

Woody was originally bought for my sister, Al, but he was quite cheeky and I ended up swapping him for a horse I had that she loved. I was supposed to give him back…. but luckily I’ve managed to avoid it so far!

He is such an easy horse to have around, and as a fantastic jumper he upgraded to Advanced easily last year.  This season his aim will be the U25 Championships at Bramham.

TOP RESULTS 2011:

16th Gatcombe Intermediate Championships

6th Tattersalls: CCI** U25

9th Aston-le-Walls: I  (jumped double clear)

Miss Perky has it all; the movement, the jump and the presence to be a real contender. We bought her through Francesca Pollara after Little Beau’s accident, and have taken our time at Novice as she was lacking confidence.

There has never been any doubt about her talent, but she is very careful which has meant she has needed nurturing.  Last year though she produced a double clear in her first International at Tattersalls, and went on to lead Hartpury CCI* from the start, until one pole down relegated her to 2nd.  Still, this was a great result and this year she will be aimed at Houghton CCI**. 

TOP RESULTS 2011:

2nd Hartpury: CCI*

12th Wilton: I

4th Withington: N (jumped double clear)

5th Burnham Market: N (jumped double clear)

Simi is our next homebred (three of his older siblings were sold), and is a half brother to Zulu, by Its Without Doubt.

A champion in the show ring as a youngster he nearly found a new career, but he has such a spring we decided to keep him and let him follow in his big brother’s footsteps.

Simi finished last season really confident at Novice and went back to Scotland for a holiday, and to hunt (as he’s the family favourite!).  He is going to stay at home with Al for the time being, before hopefully returning later on in the season.

TOP RESULTS 2011

Purston Manor: Novice (jumped double clear)

Aston-le-Walls: Novice (jumped double clear)

7th Brigstock: PN (jumped double clear)

6th Milton Keynes: PN (jumped double clear)

7th Sapey: PN (jumped double clear)

There’s a lot to look forward to from my camp.  In addition to Zul hopefully making it to Badminton, Woody is being aimed for the U25 Championships at Bramham, and Miss Perky will hopefully make her CCI** debut at Houghton.  In addition to that I have a lovely 5yr by Harlequin du Carel to compete, as well as my first proper Dressage horse, (thank you Jan Whitehead) which is very exciting.  So I think it will be all action as March arrives…

Before that though there’s going to be a lot of cold, murky days and nights, and I think I’m going to be surviving through those memories of Africa… Before Christmas one of my sponsors – Aardvark Safaris – sent me on a journalist mission to Kenya, to experience one of their riding safaris.  I can’t give too much away now as the article is due to come out in the next issue of ‘Eventing’ mag., but suffice to say it was easily one of the best weeks of my life.  I hadn’t actually been planning on going on holiday, but now I see why people do it – you do actually return with a renewed zest for life! Genius.

And with that in mind, bring on 2012!

Rio is a great Event model; German bred with fantastic movement, plenty of scope and a light frame.  His father was a Derby specialist, and Rio has proven himself both brave and careful so far.

His half brother (a 2yr old colt by the same sire, and called ’I Can Fly’) caused a lot of excitement at the Addington Brightwells auction in December, and went on to be the top lot of the weekend.

Rio was bought purely to produce and sell on, and is a great prospect for someone to go and have fun with.   

Babe is a legend!  My sister brought him back from Goresbridge sales two years ago to produce and have some fun with, but unfortunately her degree has proved a little more time consuming than anticipated.  As a result he is now for sale, but I am hoping to do some events before then. 

Babe’s father in fact jumped for Ireland in 138cm classes, while his mother was a small horse who had had some success Eventing, so jumping is in his genes!

Dumbleton is a new arrival on the yard, and is a real pleasure to have around.  He Evented up to 1* with Laura Collett, but has since proved himself a great all-rounder by doing a variety of things, including winning a great deal in the show-ring with none other than Robert Oliver.