Maarsbergen, Saturday.
Cross country for the 3*L took place on Friday evening and it was no walk in the park with no one making time. Thomas Carlile added just 1.2 to sit way in the lead on 29.8 and Jonelle and Indian Tonic (Indie) were the next fastest with 8.4. Annoyingly, having been bold and brave around the track Indie just tipped a MIM clip over a vertical cropping down into a hollow. That added 11 penalties which was still good enough for third place as even on 48.7 the score was still competitive! Congrats to travel buddy Rebecca Howard who added just 10 time to sit in 2nd with a rail in hand over Jonelle.
After the morning jog passed with no drama just 9 came forward for the showjumping at 1.15 CET. Thomas Carlile duly won but Indie fought her way back up to second spot with a clear inside the time. Rebecca had a rail and a couple of time which dropped her down to 4th but it will still be a happy truck ride home, both horses have gone well and Indie has no idea she added 11 penalties to her card! Double clear with a sub 30 dressage at her first 3L is impressive and a whole heap of improvement from Royal Jump.
Maarsbergen, Friday
One on one for Indian Tonic (Indie) and Jonelle as they headed out to Holland for the 3L at Maarsbergen although Rebecca Howard and Dolman Cooley were their company for the trip. It’s rare for Jonelle to head abroad with just one for a 3L but it’s an MER box that has to be ticked and they are pretty scarce on the ground.
Indie is a feisty mare so there was plenty of time for Jonelle to have lots of hacking around the venue as well as schooling and Europe has cooled down somewhat from the scorching heat that Tim had in Poland last week to a more comfortable low twenties. All the prep paid off with a score of 29.3 on the flat to lie in third place after dressage.
Farley, Monday.
Jonelle was supposed to be at Farley on Friday but due to the heatwave all Friday classes were moved to Monday…which made life a tad complicated as Jonelle was due to leave for Maarsbergen late on Monday night!
Just Indian Tonic (Indie) and Chilli’s Midnight Star (Ollie) for sun baked Farley and as Jonelle pointed out, if you enter Farley in late June you don’t expect ground to be perfect. She added that she thought they had done the best they could given the weather in the build up and she was happy to run her horses at a steady pace.
Indie was having a somewhat unusual prep for her trip to Maarsbergen with her one day event on day of departure! She warmed up for the dressage in a better mood but was then slightly scuppered as she could see horses running cross country as she went up the centre line which did take her a couple of movements to stop gawping at. I would doubt that would have ever occurred in Germany! She then show jumped her best round to date and the plan was to just jump a few fences on the cross country but she was so full of herself Jonelle decided to let her hack the whole way round and ended up in 5th spot despite some 17 time.
Ollie was having his first run back since Badminton and it was great to see that he led the dressage in his OI section. He also show jumped beautifully before having a steady run cross country which will have been good for his mind and brakes as Jonelle pointed out as his build up to Burghley begins.
Jonelle and Rebecca Howard are having a girls trip out to Maarsbergen and so they headed off form Farley in the general direction of Dover and stopped off at Tweseldown where Rachel Faulkner was kind enough to provide a layover. Indie found herself turned out in the dressage field for a few hours before continuing her trip back towards her homeland and her first international with Jonelle.
Kingston Maurward
Whilst Tim was battling rising temperatures in Poland Jonelle popped 30 mins down the road to her local at Kingston Maurward with her two 100 horses. The heatwave is waning in the UK which, for me, is a crying shame but no doubt more comfortable for the horses but it was still jackets off in Dorset today.
Alex and Joe Giannamore’s Osz Lo (Tommas) was the star of the day for a win on a 28.8 in his section. It’s a first win for Tommas and he should be rightly proud of it in the quite grown up setting of the college….it’s a brilliant ‘baby horse’ event with a proper showjumping arena which is quite imposing on the grass with the college as a back drop and a hilly educational track for the cross country.
Fernhill Happy Hour (Hugo) was in a section with a very generous dressage judge who was happy to sprinkle the good marks as well as the tougher ones and he scored a PB with a 23.8. Hugo thought fence 3 most definitely had a dragon underneath it in the showjumping but then manned up and dealt with the rest of the track like a dude. He skipped around the cross country and wound up in 2nd place which is very credible and he is growing in confidence at every event.
Shout out to Cosby Green who has taken over the ride on Supplejack (Jack) from Tim and finished in 4th spot with a 24.3 dressage and added nothing to it. That’s Jack’s best result to date and a big step forward in his retraining from racing to eventing and such a cool story to follow. Its quite the deal to start a whole new life and so great to see that Jack is embracing it and he will head back to Cornbury this year for the racing retraining class no doubt with some good mileage under his belt.
Credit Rachel Good: James Good with Jack, co owned with Rachel Good, Cam Price and Tim and Jonelle
Strzegom, Sunday.
An even earlier start for the competition today as soaring temperatures meant that whilst the National classes were cancelled the jogs started at 6am with all competition finished by mid morning. Certainly beats the long hang around for the showjumping in the afternoon!
Hats off to Jess with all three horses through the jog and yet another win for The Highlander (Ivar) to add to his growing collection. Winning your first 4 star Long is fairly significant and it’s fair to say he did it easily with a copybook clear today. Stablemate Garcon (Tibo) just tipped the out of the last double for 4 faults and third spot which is also an impressive end to his week.
Not to be outdone Centari (Carter) was still climbing his proverbial ladder and a clear from him moved him up to 2nd in the 3*S class. It may have been a long hot week but the results prove it was worth the trip and these three horses show that Tim has a great B team that are slowly gaining the experience to take on the mantle of top dogs in a couple of years.
Strzegom, Saturday
The heatwave we have in the UK is starting to weaken but it’s full on in Poland with 36 degrees today for cross country proving to be challenging. Strzegom brought the start time for the Long classes forward and they started the 2L at 6am. As you can see from the course map it is not easy to fit a 4L into the cross country area!
Even more of a mission for Tim was the timing…with 2 horses in a small class of 9 in the 4Long it was always going to be tight but I don’t think he has ever ridden the first at 9am, finished at 9.11 and then found himself setting out on horse no. 2 just 31 minutes later! That is quite some feat for sure.
The Highlander (Ivar) was the pathfinder and he made a superb job of his first 4 long around a track that suited his style of cross country with its endless technical questions and varieties of arrowheads, shoulder brushes and corners. Tim didnt press him for time but they stayed in a superb rhythm and, honest pony that he is, Ivar never looked left nor right and came home with some 20 time and found himself in the lead when the leader after dressage withdrew.
Plenty of drama as the next few horses out didn’t make it through the finish flags and then it was Garcon (Tibo) who did do Boekelo at the end of last season but was yet to come home with a clean score sheet at the level. Today all his arrogance came into play on the positive side as he answered every question with ease and looked like he really did come of age. It’s a twisty track with several compulsory flags added to make the distance and he looked the most rideable he has ever been around a big course. Had he not been unlucky enough to just tip the MIM clip on the last combination, a triple bar down to, yep, you guessed it, a skinny into the last pond to pick up 11 penalties he would have been some way clear in the lead with just 14 time. As it is he sits in 3rd in a much depleted field of 5 which will come forward to showjumping tomorrow morning.
Only mad dogs, Englishmen and a Kiwi out in the midday sun as the 3Short got underway and Tim and Centari (Carter) had the track much to themselves as the few spectators had retreated to the shade under the trees. Carter is NZ bred and a beautiful stamp of a horse and so far this season he has jumped a few Open Novice classes so it was quite the step up back to three star for him. I think it is safe to say Carter revelled in his trip around Strzegom! Ditches, drops, coffins, skinnies….he takes them all in his (massive) stride and jumps with a neatness that belies his long legs. He looked pure class and seemed to enjoy the weather conditions like a true Kiwi would. They added just 6.4 time without even trying to shoot up the leaderboard from 22nd to 3rd and the 3S have a horse inspection tomorrow morning before showjumping which is fairly unusual for a Short class but good experience for Carter.
Plenty of time for horses and riders to rehydrate before tomorrow and another great day out on the cross country for Tim.
Below: Skinnies and Skinniers!
Strzegom Thursday / Friday
Whilst Tim was still in Luhmuhlen Jess departed Chedington with Garcon (Tibo) , Centari (Carter) and The Highlander (Ivar) en route to Poland. It was a well researched trip with stabling stops planned on two nights and an early arrival at Strzegom on Tuesday which they were happy to facilitate and we thank them for that.
A small field for the 4Long but Tim lies 2nd and 3rd with Ivar on 33.1 and Tibo on 33.5. Both horses scored consistently apart from green changes which is to be expected at this stage in their career… what they do at home is a little different to be asked in a test situation for sure.
Carter did his test today and it was going well until the walk when Carter clearly had a melt down! There were some very odd inconsistencies in the scoring with scores like 7 and 2 and a 7 and a 3 which is pretty random but it was always going to be a fact finding mission for Tim and Carter at their first international so they look forward to the cross country and showjumping.
Live scoreboard at:
https://results.strzegomhorsetrials.pl/event.php?event=41#CCI4S
Luhmuhlen, Sunday
No problems at the jog this morning for any of the 5 star horses which is always nice to see on the score board. As the only rider with 2 horses Jonelle found herself pathfinder again, this time at the showjumping with Capitaine de Hus Z (Alvin) who was jumping out of order.
It’s an atmospheric showjumping arena at Luhmuhulen with a packed crowd and lots of movement in the hospitality area. They build big, bold and technical and it is always a phase that changes the leaderboard.
No one had told Alvin that though and he jumped his socks off for a fabulous clear, just adding 0.8 of time for 2 seconds over. Not many horses did get the time but one of those who did do just that was Grappa Nera (Grape). Grape also jumped the treble like a pro which is sometimes her nemesis but unfortunately she did catch some other fences for a total of 16 which is not her usual style of finishing a three day event for sure.
Jonelle still came home with 4th and 8th which is a great result at 5 star level and all credit to Rosie as it’s a long hot week with 2 ponies in Luhmuhlen. And as Jonelle had hoped at the beginning of the week she does have ” a newly minted 5 star horse” in the shape of Alvin who, it has to be said, absolutely smashed it at his first start at the level with a 4th spot and a double clear.
Welcome to the 5 star club Alvin.
Jarillo (Milo) ticked off his 5 star winners club position at the end of last year in Pau and his showjumping is generally one of his highlights. I’m sure Tim will be relieved to see Luhmuhlen in the rear view mirror this year as today Milo had 2 rails which is absolutely a first for him at any international. Not take away from his performance however is that he still finished 9th and top 10 at such a hot 4*S is still a result to be proud of. It’s a measure of how tough the stadium was today that even with 8 faults he still only dropped three places and there are many big days to come for this chap, there is no doubt of that.
Luhmuhlen, Saturday
Jonelle and Grappa Nera headed out as pathfinders at Luhmuhlen in the 5*L and a better pair you could not have found to show how the course should be ridden. Grape has plenty of experience with a 5 star win at Pau and a couple of Badminton’s under her belt and she answered every question with great footwork and plenty of scope. There wasn’t even a ‘moment’ which is unusual when you are going for time at a 5 star and they came home with just 4.4 time to add which was impressive. Jonelle mentioned that “Grape does it in her own way, my job is just to sit and steer” but I think it’s a bit more than that, their partnership is a proper one. They finish the day in 4th.
Jonelle commented in her interview that “the time would be hard to catch” and she was certainly right about that as various riders fell foul of Luhmuhlen’s technical questions. At around the half way point Tim and Happy Boy set off and they were flying with Happy looking on song and jumping his way cleanly through the corner combinations. The skinny brush arrowhead on the island in the middle of the second water complex turned out to be the most influential fence on the track and Happy looked all set to take it on until he dropped his shoulder so fast he deposited Tim on the ground along with the white flag.
There was a moment when Tim sat up and looked at Happy who was in Park by the fence and it was as if Happy silently went “sorry mate” before turning around and wandering back the way he came through the water. Tim got up, dusted himself down and, ever the gentleman, helpfully put the white flag back on the fence and rather than walk back through the water in his leather boots opted to walk the plank up and over the black flag alternative. And then promptly slipped on the downward plank and nearly fell over himself, much to the delight of the crowd who were hugely entertained.
Tim’s collarbone seems to be more famous than Tim these days as he was quickly interviewed and asked if his shoulder was ok which either just goes to show that people really do care or perhaps that up until that point it had been a slow news day in Luhmuhlen. Tim generously pointed out how much Happy has won and mentioned Blenheim and Boekelo and generally smiled allot which is exactly what a good ambassador for the sport does in that situation.
Capitaine de Hus Z (Alvin) is at his first 5 star but he looked as though he had been there and done it all before as he and Jonelle had a fabulous round where everything went to plan and Alvin showed all his scope and bravery. Jonelle has plenty of experience at this level and Alvin allowed her to show him the ropes and he kept on jumping through the flags right to the end of the track. Jonelle professed herself to be delighted with him and said she finally feels as though she really can trust him and he is a true 5 star horse now. His jumping is quite exceptional and he has so much confidence in both himself and Jonelle which is a sure sign of a true partnership. 7.2 time was added and again, Jonelle said that perhaps she was not as aggressive against the clock at the beginning as she could have been but given that Alvin has in the past been strong and rude it would be fairly chancy to head out flat to the boards at his first time at the level. They sit in 5th spot and he would definitely be one to be sitting on tomorrow in the stadium.
Lots more horses in the 4*S and Tim had plenty of time to watch. It was truly hot by the afternoon and all the crowds were seeking shade at every fence with questions spread out pretty evenly all over the track. Jarillo (Milo) and Tim set out meaning business and there was some nifty footwork from Milo at the first water and some incredible balance from Tim when the skinny in the middle didn’t come up on the perfect distance but after that they never looked in danger of being anything but their usual awesome selves. It was an uncharacteristic mistake that Milo chose to make in Royal Jump and he really has put it firmly behind him with a great round to add just 4.8 time to sit in 6th place going onto tomorrow’s showjumping. And Milo would no doubt be the pick of most of the field as the horse most wanted to ride in the showjumping!
A long hot day for the crew but all horses safely in their stables tonight which is by far the most important thing. Roll on the finale tomorrow for both classes.
Luhmuhlen, Friday
An early start for Tim and Jarillo (Milo) this morning and they headed down the centre line looking very smart in the sunshine. Milo is a striking horse to look at and he cuts an elegant picture with his long legs and it was a solid and pretty much mistake free test. They had a slight misunderstanding in the rein back which resulted in the tiniest of pauses but as always Milo recovered his composure very quickly. The judges were not as generous as they normally are with Milo and he scored a 30.7 but he still sits just 3.3 marks off second place in 8th spot in a very hot class. Leader Julia Krajewski is a way out in front on a 22.9 but there is still a long way to go!
Last to go in the 5 star and in pretty warm and humid conditions were Jonelle and Capitaine de Hus Z (Alvin). Alvin is a fairly opinionated chap but Jonelle isn’t one to be pushed around and she had him in a lovely frame in a double bridle. His extended trot was quite special with a superb rhythm from start to finish and he quite rightly earned two 8’s for that…quite what the judge who gave him a 7 was looking for is any ones guess. His first change was good, he totally anticipated the second and did it on his own way ahead of X which earned him 3, 2, 2 which was a shame. His third change was late and the judges could not agree on his 4th change scoring 7 4 and 6. His first 5 star test scored 33.1 which is no disgrace at all and he had every right to look pretty pleased with himself as he hacked out of the ring.
Jonelle sits in 7th and 10th overnight which is no bad place to be. Tim sits in 5th on Happy Boy just 4.7 off the lead and lets hope Happy has a nice sleep tonight and gets out of bed on the right side tomorrow!
The 5 star runs first tomorrow morning followed by the 4 star in the afternoon so plenty to look forward to and here’s hoping they both have great rides in both classes.
