Charlie Pickman

Great sadness as Meg retires from Eventing

Viking had three runs in October to finish off the season. We planned for him to go to Dauntsey and finish at Tweseldown, but ended up going to Mount Ballan as well. Viking is a very bouncy horse with loads of energy which sometimes causes me frustration in the dressage. This was the case at Tweseldown where the lack of cross country runs made him extremely sparky and very difficult to keep composed. Unfortunately this was reflected in his results, so off we went to the Open Novice section at Mount Ballan four days later. He was foot perfect that day and finished on his dressage score of 28.1. This put him into 2nd place, which was a brilliant end to the season for him.

For his first full season Viking has achieved my expectations. Other than the unfortunate day at Tweseldown he has been fantastic cross country, has show jumped well and is consistently doing good dressage tests. He has now got 18 BE points and is ready to move up to Intermediate level next year. I hope to qualify him for the Novice Championships at Gatcombe in 2009, and be competitive at Intermediate level. He is now roughed off having a holiday and being exuberant in the fields. I can't wait for next year!

Unfortunately Meg has had further leg problems, this time with a strained ligament to a fetlock joint. She is recovering well, but the vets have said that there is a strong chance of her breaking down if excess pressure is placed on this joint. So it is with great sadness that we have decided to retire her from eventing. It is a real shame as she was so close to 4 star level. However, she exceeded all of our expectations and gave me the opportunity to compete at Advanced and 3 star levels. She found the dressage hard, but with a lot of careful work she came from struggling to do a trot to canter transition, to doing all the advanced movements. She has always been a fantastic jumping horse and careful, and loved going cross country. Claire (her owner) is considering the option of her becoming a brood mare, and if so, I'll certainly be interested in seeing her foals.

Billy has been growing, muscling up, and generally maturing this year, and I now plan to do some dressage and jumping through the winter. I am also hoping to take him hunting a few times as I think it will be educational for him, and hope we don't blow his mind in the process! He should then be ready to start eventing next March.

March seems a long way off with the days getting shorter and shorter, and wetter and colder. Muddy gateways and bitterly cold winds seem to have come early this winter - let's hope things warm up a bit soon. Competing indoors is much more inviting at the moment although climbing out of a warm bed for the cold early starts is not so welcome. I hope the 2009 eventing season comes quickly - roll on next spring.

Charlie

Oct 08