And on the day of summer solstice the sun actually shone at Farley today which was kind of weird to have the Longest Day of daylight hours when we haven’t actually had any summer. It’s all downhill to the shortest day on December 21st now and this was the first day that jackets were declared not necessary for dressage and showjumping. Global warming seems an ideology in eventing this year as opposed to a reality!
Just the one ride for Jonelle today with Senor Crocodillo (Diego) in the OI. Farley made the most of it though with an 11.52 dressage, a 2.15 SJ and a 4.09 XC which is frankly ridiculous! Tim had 4 rides so he was pretty busy but when the sun shines everything is so much easier for riders and grooms alike.
Diego won the dressage in his section for a very smart 25 and backed that up with an assured double clear for 6th spot. Jonelle could have won quite easily but one day wins are not the priority and she was delighted with his return to competition and his attitude which is such a “can do” one that makes him a potential 5 star contender. Diego was definitely happy with his day and enjoyed soaking up some rays.
Chio 20 also impressed the judges with a 28.9 and he was super happy to be back out after Millstreet. Tim certainly had his hands full at the showjumping warm up which was busy and mirrored the slope of the arena and whilst many of the riders admired Chio’s jump not that many wanted to swap places with Tim! He jumped a super clear round and hacked back to the truck with no mishaps.
Dromgurrihy Gold (Dara) is a 4 star horse now and his 36 dressage was some 2 points above Tim’s prediction for him. He could not have tried harder in the showjumping as the downhill verticals and a couple of short distances would not have worked in his favour but he left all the rails up which was impressive. Garcon (Tibo) has been a victim of the weather this year and is short of starts with Tim but he impressed today with a 30.9 and a very smart clear round. He is not Tim’s usual type, he is a more compact model with a pretty head and if you had to pick him at the truck you would guess he was Jonelle’s.
Jarillo (Milo) hated the showjumping warm up and found it incredibly stressful as he is truly horseshy and since they now had a backlog at the jumping as they had insisted on trying to stick to times order it was really busy. It wasn’t helped by a sturdy lady who dismantled the vertical I had just put up for Tim and turned it into a cross pole in front of me which was not only rude but pretty unnecessary as the vertical was about 1m high anyway. Tim managed to get to another vertical and a couple of oxers before commenting that the safest place for him to be on Milo was actually in the arena. Milo duly relaxed in the ring and jumped the 4th of Tim’s clear rounds.
All four of Tim’s rides found the intermediate track a breeze and they skipped around with 20 to 30 time faults apiece and had a good outing. Sunday is back to babies day with some 11 youngsters at Launceton in Cornwall which has quickly become a favourite with Team Price as the team there are so welcoming and helpful.