Tim and Jonelle rocked up at Hartpury yesterday having ridden 5 at Aston le Walls and commenced pre riding for all the horses to dressage today. Jonelle took Faerie Good Golly into her arena familiarisation which was in the spooky indoor and as expected Golly turned into a Lipizzaner with some proper ‘airs above the ground’ displays as Golly perfects her capriole. At one point Golly nearly landed on Tim and Gloire de Marcheval (Louis) which was not well received by either horse and rider but Jonelle says she kind of got through it even if it seems Golly rather does like to go to war.
A couple of mistakes apart Jonelle said that Golly performed the best test she has done to date although the score of 33 doesn’t reflect that. Better to note that Pippa Funnell and her prolific winner Billy Walk On sits on a 28 so to be 5 marks off that is pretty cool at this stage in Golly’s career. Tim and Louis retained their record of being incredibly mature and reliable with a 28.2 which ended the day in a very respectable 3rd and just a smidgeon off Billy Walk On so very positive as always. Perfect Pete retains his record of being just so and he is becoming the Volvo XC60 of the 3 star level, dependable, reliable and ubiquitous as he just keeps rocking up! Just that one MER eludes them and fingers crossed he picks it up this weekend and we can move up to an F1 manufacturer.
Tim just has Global Quest (George) in the 4*Short and he did a really nice test with just a couple of mistakes. The judges didn’t like his walk movements and the last centre line went a bit west but a 32 is a work in progress. It was George’s first time in a big arena since Boekelo last October so he was well entitled to feel a bit green.
The rest of the horses are in the British Open and Happy Boy was the first of Tim’s rides. Happy is very capable of a very flashy test but today the judges were a little tough in that class with a 32.5 which was not quite what it looked like from the sidelines. Tim’s second ride was Vitali and he is such a pleasure to watch in a big arena, Tim and Vitali are so in sync and everything looks so harmonious. Vitali did make a mistake in the first change by staying parallel behind which is most unlike him but he still scored a 23.3 which puts him some 6 marks in the lead.
Oh boy, we love Vitali!
Jonelle has been really happy with Grappa Nera (Grape) at home although right canter is a bit of a flash point. Grape has done one OI since Badminton and was very very pleased to be at a proper party again…..you don’t get out much when you are 5 star. Pre test she posed at the stable like a supermodel, looking stunning with her glistening black coat and ‘butter wouldn’t melt’ expression whilst emulating Kate Moss. Although it does have to be said Kate Moss had her bette noirs as well. Grape actually did one of her better ever tests at the level with just one day of pre riding and a score of 38 was most credible. She does love to rock the pose….stretchy circle Grape? Ah yes, that’s great, you just sit in rolkur with a loose rein. Last centre line and halt Grape…nearly crashed into the judges box as Jonelle said woah and Grape said ‘just how close can I get’. The first change was very admirable, the second somewhat of a leap about 5 strides before the centre line but hey ho, Grape dances to her own beat and today it was very acceptable.
Chilli’s Midnight Star (Ollie) was the last ride of the day for the crew and following Vitali wouldn’t be the first choice for anyone! Jonelle had a great warm up and Ollie stayed soft and sweet throughout the test producing some of his best work at the level. A score of 35.9 was a bit on the tough side for sure when he was allot less tense than Grape showed but it’s a judges view that counts and not ours. Ollie looks firmly back on track for his autumn campaign so that is the positive.
Cross country is live on https://horseandcountry.tv/liveevents
Scoring is live on https://www.eventingscores.co.uk/events/event.php?eventid=2622
Golly and Louis go XC tomorrow, George SJ and XC tomorrow and the BCO horses showjump tomorrow and go XC on Sunday.