It’s actually Wellington International as the event hosts 3 star, 2 star and 1 star FEI classes as well as the National classes but since our guys were all novice and 100 horses it seemed a little over the top to give it International billing.
We usually rock up at Wellington on the bank holiday Monday when, depending upon your viewpoint, it is either a hive of frenetic activity with children running amok at a country fair ringside that has everything from clowns to dubious paintings, lots of happy screaming and shouting and ground like lava. Or, it is a hotbed of adults totally fed up with their offspring after six weeks of holiday, huge queues for ice creams and loos alike and a scary atmosphere for the horses to venture into after the peace of the truck park. Oh, and ground like lava.
But this year it was destination baby day only and, thanks to Storm 408 of “summer of 2024″ which dumped the rain left over from a hurricane in Florida over most of the last 2 days the ground at Wellington was the best it has ever been. The left over hurricane wind this morning didn’t make for it feeling particularly warm but by this afternoon it was actually pleasantly balmy which I think we last felt at Badminton in May. Also it turns out that the Country Fair doesn’t start until Saturday (presumably on the basis that peasants still should be working on Fridays) so the main arena is a sea of dressage arenas (crowd presence nil apart from the odd owner) and the novice/100 showjumping is on a piece of ground between the cross country and the back of the trade stands so the background noise is predominantly generators running which is, as it turns out, preferable to screaming children.
Tim had 2 novices and 3 100 horses to fill his day so he zipped around the track this morning prior to his first dressage walking both course at once, plus it was raining and it has to be said, he’s not really a morning person. He is however blessed of being deemed ” a really nice fella” by most dressage judges and he certainly charmed them on the (undeniably beautiful) The Highlander (Ivar) for a 25.5 which led that section Gloire de Marchenval (Louis) is also pretty smart and is also known as Perfect Pete by his (somewhat biased) owners but he scored a 32.3 in his section which was a tad harsh but there were only a handful in the 20’s in that section.
Louis AKA Perfect Pete jumped a lovely clear round in the showjumping which was sited on part of the old cross country course so had a couple of humps in the middle which is where they used to site a combination on a perfect 3.5 strides. Ivar had an uncharacteristic rail and they moved onto the cross country where Louis headed out first which turned out to be very much in Ivar’s favour.
Louis sailed around the track but it turns out that Perfect Pete hasn’t learned to count yet as when Tim jumped the ditch /brush at fence 16 and landed he aimed for the corner which was in the most obvious position after it. Unfortunately this turned out to be the corner for the 100 class as the novice corner actually required you to do a handbrake turn to the right in order to approach it. Of course Louis didn’t realise that after 16 comes 17 but since the 100 class was numbered 17 A and B you can see his confusion. Tim was blissfully unaware and when it was announced at the finish he was eliminated he asked which fence he had missed out! The good part (unintended pun there to owners James and Rachel Good!) is that Louis has no idea he has the big E next to his name and, without being picky, the fence judge did then cross the flags on the 100 corner so no one else would make the same mistake. As several other riders commentated, they owe Tim a drink for that!
Ivar was his usual all business self cross country and dealt with the handbrake turn to the correct novice corner beautifully.
Tim then swopped onto his 100 horses whilst Jonelle rode her 4 novices. Illico de l’Esques (Nico) did a lovely test for a 29, jumped a super clear round and then went cross country with another clear round to add to his tally. These novices have had a long year as they were up and prepped for the Sunshine Tour ( apart from Faerie Good Golly), then they had weeks of waiting for some 100 classes to stop abandoning in the never ending winter, finally got going at Larkhill in April where they had to go straight novice and then didn’t get another start til June. They are really looking forward to their break!
J’Orange ( Daisy) scored a 35 on the flat in a section where the judge wasn’t feeling any 8’s today before a really super clear round over the poles. It’s not an easy ring with the undulations and Daisy has a big stride but she was polite and listened and then probably gave Jonelle her best ride cross country to date with very smooth and assured clear round.
Faerie Good Golly was on a 32.3 before an assured double clear which again she did with consummate ease and her ears tightly pricked as she loves every minute of it. Just like Classic Moet she is a whizz at solving a puzzle at speed and she’s pure fun to watch in the jumping.
Faerie Usain (Maude) has the looks that her sister didn’t quite get……think The Brady Bunch sisters. Golly is all sass and getting the job done, Maude is all supermodel with her long legs and dapple grey coat. Golly has had the benefit of Jonelle since she was 4, Maude and Jonelle are on event 2 and in the just getting to know you phase. I’m not entirely sure Maude is totally sold on Jonelle yet as Jonelle isn’t impressed with supermodel attitudes and Maude isn’t impressed with being trained on the job so to speak! A 35 on the flat meant 1- 0 to Maude but after a slight disagreement in the show jump warm up Maude capitulated and jumped a good clear before a really good cross country run where they definitely looked on very much the same page.
No big truck today as the Maxi has gone up north for some repair jobs so a mish mash of the Didi and a transporter that looked very much like a polo truck plus some 2 horse trucks. Whilst Tim went off on his 100 horses Jonelle fed the 5000 out of the back of the Audi which was pretty impressive given that she went to Germany yesterday to try a horse which meant a 4am departure and an 11pm return.
Tim smiled at Monbeg Crystal Clear (Kris)’s dressage judge and was rewarded with a 24.5. Kris is a good looking lad but to be fair, so is Indy du Loir and he got a 31.5. Just Spotless, a total doppelgänger for Happy Boy, scored aa 36.3 but he would be the greenest of the green group and is desperately trying to play catch up to his mates.
Showjumping the baby horses on a trickily undulating arena with downhill combinations is no easy feat. Tim’s uber quiet moves on his advanced horses are some what magnified on the 100 guys as he abandons the quiet aids and swings off their heads on the run down to a downhill oxer after a downhill double! It’s very effective, he is like, “dude, shorten, shorten your stride” and the horses are like ” I got this dude, we on a roll” and then they are more like ” Get off my face, I cant see the fence, uh oh, we in trouble, I’ll back up”. Indy went clear, Spot and Kris just had one pole each.
Cross country is a matter of getting from section to section intact. Indy went clear which was impressive, Spot thought a sort of solid pallet at fence 6 in a very busy area of the track a bit suspicious for a 20 and Kris thought that the ditch at 12b deserved a check that there was nothing lurking it. Fair play to both of them, this is where the learning is done.
Credit as always to the Chedington team who work so hard to make the day run like clockwork. Rosie was in charge today and she was well supported by a happy well trained crew and it was fun to have Abel and Otis on site. Also one of the last events for Jonelle’s mum, Leslie, who soon heads home for sunnier climes as NZ start to think about Spring and we mourn the loss of a summer that never was. Yep, call me miffed!