The sun may have been shining intermittently at Barbury today but the wind was blowing from the North and it really was baltic out in the open. Jonelle started her day just after 8am again with three horses in the novice classes whilst Tim had a more leisurely morning with his first intermediate dressage not until 12.30.
Mixed fortunes for Jonelle this morning with three very different horses in every sense of the way. J’Orange (Daisy) is a proper chestnut mare, undoubtedly talented but also precociously opinionated. A 32 dressage was a compromise in the chilly wind, a not so easy showjumping warm up was followed by a very smart clear round and then a gawp at the ditch at fence 4, so last minute that Jonelle ended up in front of the saddle and very nearly fell off, then a huge leap over it and then a definite dislike at the brush arrowhead on the bank and two run outs meant the cold walk home.
Brookfield Royale Love (Edward) is a proper boy in every sense of the word. He doesn’t have a great memory and is ‘everyday is a new day’ type of chap which makes life something of a challenge. Jonelle was giving him plenty of pace at the uphill oxer in the warm up and he really wants to do the right thing so he backed himself up each time and then left himself a huge task to get to the other side. He copped on after a couple of helicopter leaps and then gained in confidence and jumped a super round over a track which didn’t flow as well as yesterday’s. He looks like the type that will hang around in novice for a while and then suddenly zoom on up the grades as he has plenty of talent and scope and just needs a bit more self belief. He finds cross country much easier and delivered a lovely clear round with just 5 time.
LSF The Boss is trying to make up time lost with his half season last year and he is all about try, try, try. He posted a 28 dressage which was impressive, he jumped a smart clear round and then he also gawped at the ditch at fence 4 but employed vertical take off mode to ensure he kept his record clean. He did that a few times round the track but a more genuine attitude you couldn’t find and he ended up with a 3rd place and some points for his efforts which was much deserved.
I Like it de Rohan (Kiki) and Jonelle are still not quite on the same page on the flat although Kiki is now trained enough to do all the movements; she just likes to poke her nose out in most of them. A 35 dressage was a fair call and she is an out and out jumper so a clear showjumping was not a surprise but Kiki had also clearly had a chat with her chestnut mare mate Daisy and she too picked up a 20 at the ditch at 4 and then also decided that Daisy was right and the brush arrowhead at the next fence was not for her so Jonelle had another long cold walk home. Chestnut mares have never been a big thing with Jonelle and Daisy and Kiki did nothing to change that opinion today!
Tim was looking like one of the cool kids doing dressage in a black puffer jacket under his number but it turned out that the crew had forgotten to put his show jacket in Cosby’s truck which was the ‘big’ truck for the day today. The judges in the dressage didn’t seem to notice, the ones in the jumping were too cold to care and by the afternoon pretty much all those who were not in the first stages of hypothermia were following suit. Garcon (Tibo) has a much improved attitude this year and as Tim said, “has started to channel his energy the right way’ which roughly means he is like a kid that was off his head on sugar last year and now he has graduated to a beer or two is finding life less stressful. He scored a credible 30.9 which would have been a high 20 something had he not decided to rein back in his final halt for some reason only known to himself, he then jumped a very good clear over the poles and just picked up 7.6 time cross country to take the win in his section which was a very positive start to the season for him and a sure sign the boy is growing up for sure.
Both The Highlander (Ivar) and Brookfield Future News (Matthew) were HC in their intermediate sections as there was no OI today and Team Price didn’t want to compete Friday and Sunday. Matthew’s solid performance, which really is his trademark, saw him post a 33 and a double clear with 2.8 time which was impressive for his first outing since Boekelo. Even more eye catching was his fancy trot work when he pulled back from the truck, broke free and danced across the Barbury car park looking like a fancy dressage horse. To be fair he pulled up pretty fast when he saw his mate Sean Duffy in casual pursuit and returned to his post amidst his mates.
Ivar did a ‘bright’ dressage for a 34 and then got everyone’s attention in the showjumping warm up like always with his exuberant jumping style. He went into the arena and simply went rogue, throwing wildly unnecessary leaps and testing Tim’s stickability to the limit with his random approaches and utter loss of control! It was very unlike the normally placid Ivar and just goes to show that you add the chill factor, the wind and the Barbury Freak Out together at the start of the season and even Ivar acts like a 5 year old. It was fun to see him so excited at the start of the season and shows why Tim was so right to finish him at the 4*S at Blenheim and save him for 2026. He is the oddest mix cross country of super careful and super brave which gives Tim some ‘oh wow’ moments but never an ‘oh f**k’ moment as he’s learnt his trade now and always makes the landing despite the means of getting there. And it’s damn fun to watch!
So that’s a wrap on a cold but brilliant Barbury for Team Price ( well, not the chestnut mares but the rest) and another stepping stone towards the season aims for all of the horses. Badminton bound Chilli’s Midnight Star (Ollie), Falco and Cosby Green’s Jos Ufo de Quidam (Ufo) and Highly Suspicious all had great runs before they step up to advanced at Thorseby and boxes are being ticked. Happy Days.
