Photo credits Rachel Good
I think the cover photo absolutely sums up eventing in early March. Tim looks like he could either be about to don skis or to head up a mountain whilst hand grazing Gloire de Marchenval (Louis) at Oasby at the end of a long, cold and unbelievably windy day.
Tim has moved his horses into what was Burto’s yard at Chedington and now just has the two outdoor arenas to play outside the stables as the indoor is now a hack away. Clearly his dedication to being outdoors paid off with the horses as despite the wind and cold he led the OI dressage section with a 1, 2 3 at the start of the day which is pretty impressive. The Highlander (Ivar) led on 24.6, Vitali on 24.8 and Louis on 27.5. Nice start to the 2026 season.
All three horses show jumped clear which was another positive and at least the relentless wind kept the clouds flying by so it was just the odd spit of rain, which after one of the wettest ( and least sunniest) winters in decades was at least welcome. The ground was good, the boys were back in business and even the times were civilised with a 10 am start and a 3pm finish. I mean, happy days!
And some class horses for Tim to start the season with as well. No wild babies, Louis and Ivar come back off their Blenheim 8/9 year old championships and Vitali from yet another Burghley placing. Tim ran Louis and Ivar for a schooling steady clear for 20 and 27 time respectively whilst Vitali went a little quicker. Well, relatively so….Vitali running around an OI is akin to Lewis Hamilton going Go Carting. (Same colour, different sport). So Vitali picked up the 10 time which left him in 2nd spot and enough prize money to cover a few beers and a frittata lunch in NZ for owners Joe and Alex Giannamore. Joe is partial to a fine wine but Oasby will not be contributing to that fund.
As you can see from the photos below the horses look less than wildly excited to be back out again. I assume they got in the truck early this morning thinking they were heading down to Spain for the Sunshine Tour and then found themselves in the depths of Lincolnshire at a BE one day in the cold and wind. Their faces say it all!
