Charlie Pickman

In Full Swing

The Eventing season is now in full swing and after having to cope with rain and mud it’s looking like hard ground will be an issue already!

I decided to make the trip up to Addington for the qualifier for the indoor cross country at the Show Jumping British Open. I thought Viking would be well suited to this class. However, our trip didn’t start well when the air pressure on the lorry brakes didn’t build up. I then discovered one of the pipe attachments had broken, and so needed replacing. The road rescue guy eventually turned up with the right part and we were finally on our way, albeit 5 hours late. We got there in the nick of time to hastily tack up and get on - so not the best of preparations. Viking was great considering he had some very odd pilot navigation, which was mainly due to not walking the course - he finished 7th. We missed qualifying but it was a good experience for us both, however I wouldn’t recommend not walking the course when you have 20 fences to jump including corners, bounces and skinnies!

We then left Addington at 6am to drive to Moreton for a quiet first run. Both horses went well jumping double clears in the Novice for Viking and the BE100open for Billy. Their dressage tests were a little rusty, but both scored in the low 30’s, and both went steadily cross country. This was just the warm I wanted before going to Aldon where I aimed to be more competitive.

Aldon didn’t disappoint. Viking won the Open Intermediate finishing on his dressage score of 29.1. This was particularly pleasing as I haven’t won an Open Intermediate before and it was a competitive section. Billy also went well finishing 2nd in his Novice section with just a few time penalties to add to his dressage of 34. Billy jumped the best show jumping round to date, and also his first clear at Novice level, so it was a very good weekend all round.

Somerley Park was the next event planned but unfortunately it poured with rain for days and days in the build up. I went down the night before and decided the ground wouldn’t hold up well so withdrew both the horses as they had both run well at Aldon and weren’t in need of another run.

Weston Park was our next event which was a bit of a mixed weekend. Billy came 4th in the Novice with a great dressage score of 24.8 but had the first fence down in the show jumping. This course generally was causing many problems. He then went brilliantly cross country round a big Novice course leaping over the 2 big logs into the water. Viking did his first Advanced here so it was always going to be a bit of a nervous day! He did a super dressage test, probably his most pleasing test yet scoring 31.4 with only a handful of top riders ahead of him. However, the good start didn’t continue as he uncharacteristically had 4 show jumps down. Again this course was very testing. He then had a stop at the coffin (which he had flown over last Autumn in the 2*) and wasn’t keen jumping into the water, so I decided to pull up. He wasn’t giving me his usual bouncy feel and I think he wasn’t feeling 100%. Neither was I - I later went down with ‘flu’. At this level we both need to be firing on all cylinders. We’ll probably wait a couple of months before trying another Advanced so he can have a few easier Intermediate runs to make sure his confidence levels are still high. He’ll also have a back and saddle check to ensure all is comfortable. Although he was checked in March he has changed shape a bit with added fitness, and I know how easily they can tweak backs - mostly from playing in the field!

We are now planning the summer events, and (sadly) hoping for rain! Withington is next on the agenda and then Billy has his Novice regional final at Hambledon. We will have our fingers crossed there to try and qualify him for the Novice Championships at Gatcombe.

My older event mare, Dazzler, is in foal again and due on 23rd May. She is now bagging up, being very docile, and feeling heavy with a slow walk - she is huge. She keeps digging nests in the stable and being very protective of her poos! Her first foal, Summer, is now 22 months old and is about 16hh. She can be quite lively, but has a super temperament and seems to be very trainable with a sensible head. She saw someone schooling over coloured jumps last week - she grew to at least 16.2hh, and her eyes were out on stalks. She seemed to think it looked like fun!

I had a visit from Claire Akers, our Dengie Nutritionist, who kindly came to assess their feeds. This was interesting as she recommended they both change onto Dengie Alfa-A Oil from the Dengie Alfa-A Original. She also suggested we try Viking on Dengie Natural Vitality Digestive Health Plus supplement to help his digestion. He does get excited at competitions and can run up a bit light when he knows we are off somewhere. They are both still having Dengie Fibremix Easy as well, which we have upped slightly now they are doing more work. It is great to have Claire’s knowledge and advice to ensure the horses are in tip top condition, so many thanks Claire.

Charlie