Last year at Larkhill it was so wet that the big trucks had to be parked up near the dressage area and the showjumping arena was a challenging sticky bog. This year we drove in through clouds of Salisbury Plain dust and parked on the side of the hill overlooking the showjumping and cross country as per usual. It is a unique event with the odd tank thundering by ( as they do), probably training with a crack at some cavalry to inject some change in routine. Salisbury Plain is very much an army playground and since it is generally around minus three at any given time apart from mid August the sight of blue skies and sunshine was yet again very much welcome.
Jonelle had diligently worked her two Faerie 7 year olds all week and having been pleasantly surprised by how well behaved they had been at Barbury got quite the shock when both Faerie Good Golly and Faerie Usain (Maude) came off the truck firmly in “wild” mode. Neither of them impressed their respective judges this time with Golly sitting on a 33 in the open novice and Maude a 34 in her novice section. The fact that Jonelle’s times were pretty tight, its a bit of a hack to the dressage and there was still a stiff breeze all contributed and as Jonelle reflected, the 6 minutes she had to warm up Maude was not enough to get her back down (both metaphorically and physically as she is quite the snarly one first thing in the morning!) and then attempt a medium canter!
I like it de Rohan (Kiki) was better behaved for a 28 which was impressive and she did lose a bit of steering in the showjumping but is equally determined to jump extremely well over every fence and its the first time I have seen Jonelle genuinely warm to a chestnut with such striking white markings!
Golly continued with wild mode for the showjumping which isn’t helpful in a sloping arena with the course designer determined to put all vertical combinations downhill towards the cross country which definitely improves the entertainment factor for the viewers. We also now have definitive proof that horses are confused by camouflage as fence three was painted as such and caused many a violent spook. Golly ran through the distance to have the last down which gave Maude enough incentive to jump clear when it was her turn.
Both Golly and Maude had lovely spins on the cross country which Jonelle was pleasantly surprised to see had been softened since last year’s mini Badminton. It is just Kiki’s second run with Jonelle but they bowled around quite happily for just 3 time and another BE point to add to their tally. The footing was perfect with the springy plains grass still retaining its bounce after a month with little or no rain and this event is run at the perfect time of year as by May it is like concrete as the chalk dries out.
The afternoon saw Jonelle with her sole 100 horse, LSF The Boss strut his stuff and he really is a dude. They posted a 27 on the flat and a smart double clear and when Jonelle describes him as a “weapon” you know he is doing everything alright! Jonelle wouldn’t be the biggest fan of riding young horses but Boss has some jump experience under his belt and he really, really wants to be an eventer!
A rare weekend at home for Jonelle whilst Tim was at Larkhill on Saturday having had commitments on the Friday. In true Tim form he decided on Saturday morning that he would quite like to move Indy du Loir from the 100 he was entered in to the novice class instead. Whether that was because he didn’t have to dressage until 2pm, didn’t want to walk two courses or he had a rush of blood to the head we will never know but a huge thank you to Larkhill for enabling it to happen!
It was a bold move as Indy’s first start this year ended rather ignominiously with a faceplant in the showjumping at Moreton 100. But, Tim being the horseman that he is it was no surprise that it all went to plan with a 29 dressage, one of only 3 clear rounds jumping in his section in the showjumping and a lovely confident clear cross country. Indy did pick up 5 time in the showjumping but that was explained away with allot of trotting as changes are definitely not on Indy’s radar at this point in time as he has only just learnt organise his long legs in true canter. Tim said that he felt the bigger jumps suit Indy’s scope better and helps him focus so he was glad that he had made the step up.
The Highlander (Ivar) was Tim’s other ride for the day and he was running HC as there was no open novice on the Saturday. Ivar is about to step up to intermediate next weekend so it was the perfect way to set him up and Tim had a lovely time on him with a 28 dressage and a cruisey double clear. Indy and Ivar are about as far apart as one can get with two novices but they are both lovely, talented horses and that makes Tim’s job so very much easier.
Although he did add that he broke in the medium trot on both Indy and Ivar but he saw that as a mark of true consistency!