And just like that we are back at Barbury Castle ( although confusingly there is no castle). We had a Kiwi Owners Day running today so the event title sponsors Keyflow were on site alongside the ESNZ tent and with Ginny Loisel hosting and supercook Beaney Davidson fresh off the plane from NZ cooking it made a welcome escape from the rain and grey skies that greeted us today. It was cold and wet but mercifully little wind so for March at Barbury happy days!
First of the big days out for the crew with 5 for Jonelle and 4 for Tim, all advanced horses running OI and plenty of talent amongst them. Louella was in charge of Tim’s crew, Rosie in charge of Jonelle’s and new addition Ruby floated between them and had her first day out as a part of the team and she would have been proud of her step count tonight for sure!
Grey skies, drizzle and cool temps were the order of the morning and with the dressage arenas close together and on a slight incline there was plenty of fun to be had watching the tests with bright horses fresh from their winter break pushing boundaries left right and centre. To spare blushes it’s safe to say that it was Chillli’s Midnight Star ( Ollie) on a 25, Gloire de Marchenval (Louis) on a 25.9 and Falco on a 30 that excelled whilst the rest of the crew contained themselves to sit between 32 and sub 40. And that it how is should be at the start of the season…happy buzzy ponies just dying to get on out there.
The backdrop to the event is the stunning cross country track which makes almost the entire course visible from the bottom of the valley. Despite the horrendously wet winter we have endured the chalky soil offered up the best footing and hats off to Muskateer for putting on such a good show.
The showjumping warm up had been moved to the side of the hill to save the flat ground alongside the ring and that presented its own challenges with fit fresh horses….Jonelle was first up with Faerie Good Golly who had her ears pinned so far forward with excitement that they were almost touching. She is more like a big pony than a little horse but she pinged around the track and just lowered a vertical that she was a bit keen to. Falco and Tim set their usual incredible standard with a superb clear before Jonelle and Capitaine de Hus Z (Alvin) followed that up with one of their own.
Chilli’s Midnight Star (Ollie) is Badminton bound and with his last run being at Maryland 5 star he found his OI seriously easy. He jumped a lovely clear round and was unusually polite in the warm up which hopefully will become a trend! Grappa Nera (Grape) most certainly was not polite and I think Jonelle got about 2 fences under her belt before she gave up the challenge and went into the ring. Grape did have a single rail but she actually jumped a really smart round. Senor Crocodillo (Diego) has developed a squeal this winter and he sounded like a really naughty pony as he tested out his new trick in the warm up. He was quiet in the arena for a smart round but it’s pretty cute to hear him so happy to be out.
Louis is one of those horses who looks like he has lived this life before; he simply has such a good brain and oodles of talent and nothing is any drama. He kept his emotions in check and purred around the course for a lovely display of his ability and left all the poles in their cups. Happy Boy is on something of a roll this spring and he and Tim showed exactly why they have won so many three days on the third day with an accurate and ‘knees up’ round that was foot perfect to watch.
The warm up had quietened down a little when Jarillo (Milo) braved the throng and although Tim was careful to keep him away from any potential head on situations he actually looked like a normal horse and not the horse shy pony he really is. The ring is always Milo’s happy place where he knows he has his own space and when he cantered in and there was a very vocal applause for the previous riders clear round he clearly thought his Pau fans were back to support. He jumped yet another super round for Tim as well to complete Tim’s tally of 4 from 4.
Golly ran first of Jonelle’s cross country and anyone who knows Jonelle knows she is generally very complimentary about her horses but there is something about Golly that just makes her beam with joy and she was effusive in her praise when she got back to the truck. Golly is a little weapon for sure, she has inherited her mother’s unbridled delight in galloping and jumping and suffice to say she was truly happy to be back eventing again.
Alvin and Ollie can both be strong cross country but they looked well under control today and even Grape looked more polite than she can do around an intermediate track. Grape is the original princess for sure as she greeted her syndicate of owners with grace and accepted all their treats in a manner fit for royalty. Diego was his usual assured self and he completed a very successful day out for the Jonelle team with Ollie picking up a 3rd place for his efforts and a happy lot of horses back at the truck.
Tim had great rides on his team and they all enjoyed their spin. Louis picked up a 5th spot despite his leisurely 18 time, Falco was on great form and Happy continued his good run with an effortless clear round. When Milo returned to the truck with Ginny Thomasen’s groom it was a mildly shocking moment before it transpired that Tim had hopped off on his way back to help Ginny with her ramp. Ever the gentleman as always.
Owners had a splendid lunch in the cosy tent and it was good to see so many enjoying themselves. Sir Mark Todd popped in for a coffee en route to coaching Tayla Mason and Nick Brooks and as always the camaraderie was very much on show. The Kiwis are unique in the eventing world in the way we do the pop up days and a big thank you to Muskateer for giving us the pitch to do so.
Nine very talented advanced horses loaded up around 5pm for the trip back down to Dorset. Saturday brings another seven horses up for the day and hopefully the sun may even make an appearance.