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Hi everyone,
What a month June has been! It feels like it’s been none stop for myself and the horses out at lots of competitions and training out and about and at home. This month it was also my birthday which meant lots of social events too (now that restrictions are easing).
May ended on a high at Houghton International with the gorgeous Tottie at our first stay away of the year, coming home with two top 6 placings. On the Saturday we jumped the Discovery (1m). It was her first time jumping on grass all year and a very technical course for the height, so I was only really going for the clear because there were almost 50 entries with lots of strong combinations.
However, Tottie absolutely smashed the course with a very speedy DC to come 3rd! I was thrilled when I heard it on the loud speaker, and it gave us a huge confidence boost for day 2. On the Sunday we were just jumping the one class again, however this time the unaffiliated 1m pony club teams. Again, Tots was jumping beautifully, unfortunately just having the one fence down where she decided that a one stride would be much more fun to bounce instead. I can’t complain though, the video is quite amusing! The team still managed to gain 5th place- so a huge well done to Soham.
Our first outing in June was BS Academy raining with one of my instructors Mia Palles- Clark. It was one of the hottest days of the year so far, so we did have a slightly lethargic Buddy however he still was jumping around a 110 course on top form. We always know when Buddy is enjoying himself because he squeals after the first few jumps with excitement, which does get us a fair few funny looks because no one expects a sound like that to come out of him! The training was kindly funded by HorseQuest on this day, and it was well worth it.
The next week we were back at Barrett’s for a quick tune up with Buddy before Keysoe. He was a little strong but much more focused than the last time we were there, which is always a positive. I also had the pleasure of riding Rebecca Page’s Valento M who jumped very well and put a smile on everyone’s face with his pleasing attitude to work, thank you Rebecca for the opportunity.
On my birthday we had a nice early start as we were off to Keysoe for British Novice Second rounds. Unluckily, it just wasn’t our day. We jumped an hour and a half later than we were supposed to due to the lack of organisation from the people running the show, which led to a very wound up Buddy- again, the heat didn’t help. He went into the first round very keen and strong, meaning we had 4flts. Of course this is disappointing as there was nothing I wanted more than to head to HOYs, but it’s good to remember that there’s always next year! Onwards and upwards to the next show.
The following Wednesday we decided it would be wise to take Buddy out again, as we were not happy with how things were left at Keysoe. So, we headed to The Jays in hope of some redemption- which thankfully, we got! He jumped another Discovery for a steady 6th, which I was very happy with because he was really listening to everything I was asking. Then we went into the 105 speed, which I was just going for a school round in, and he just came out with one pole down where I took a terrible line- sack the jockey! However, we still placed 5th.
That weekend, it was Tottie’s time to shine again. This time it was a team effort for the Inter branch pony club team friendly. We competed both in the 90cm and the 100cm which had both a first round and a jump off in each, and of course Tottie was a superstar and didn’t have a pole all day! The results were as follows:
90cm- Team 6th and Individually 3rd
100cm- Team 1st and Individually 3rd again.
She got so many compliments all day, both on her looks and her careful jump so I really couldn’t be prouder of her. It was the first event this year that felt as if we were almost back to normal because spectators were allowed, so it was really nice that my grandparents and friends were able to come and watch too.
Overall, this month has really been full of lots of competitions, brilliant results and lots of rosettes! As I’m writing this, we’ve also had Buddy a year today. He’s come on so much in that short time, and in my next blog I hope to do an overview of our first year together.
Again, thank you to HorseQuest for the amazing support so far this year, I really don’t think we would be achieving these results without the help of the bursary!
Paige x