Charlie Pickman

Gloomy Weather Doesn't Dampen Charlie's Spirit

We've had a disappointing month with the weather causing many cancellations. Blenheim was the biggest casualty but the organinsing team did all they could to make sure it ran. In the end the rain just kept coming and there was no choice but to abandon the event. Unfortanately Meg will have to wait until next year now for another 3 star and hopefully she can successfully qualify for a 4 star.

Billy went up to Burghley for the Young Event Horse Final, where yet again it was muddy. He was up for the party and was feeling very well. Once he stopped bucking exuberantly he worked nicely. He did a steady relaxed dressage test and then show jumped fantastically. He touched one fence, but then gave everything else at least a foot and had a clear round.

Billy's jumping mark was good, but his dressage and conformation marks were disappointing. With hindsight I probably should have pushed for a bit more in the dressage, but I decided it was better to keep him relaxed and with all 4 feet on the ground! The conformation part is very subjective and depends on the judge's preferences on the day. Billy had scored much higher marks in the qualifiers, but he is still growing and changing. I was really pleased with him at his first really big event as the atmosphere was much more exciting than he has ever experienced before.

I now have a couple more events before the end of the season. The main one is the 6 year old final for Viking at Twesesldown. The standard will be high with lots of top riders on their future superstars, but if he goes as well as he has been he is capable of being in contention.

Sept 08