Charlie Pickman

The Season Begins!

The season has begun and I’m ‘all go’ with the horses. After having months of dry weather it started raining the week before our first event which was the Bath and West. As we weren’t sure about the ground conditions I went to look at the course the day before and decided that it would all be OK. The next morning I woke up looking forward to the first event only to look out the window and see everything covered in snow! The Organisers decided to cancel!

The following week I managed to get to Aldon successfully, with no snow! Dazzler went the first day in the Open Novice, and although feeling quite fresh went fairly well, and came 10th. The second day I took Foxy, Nanny and Meg. All three did fairly pleasing tests, but unfortunately I did not feel this was reflected in their marks. They all Show Jumped well with Meg doing a nice clear round. Unfortunately the horses were all very keen Cross Country and I had a few steering issues with Foxy and Meg, but Nanny jumped round well. As is often the case the first event was a bit mixed, but it takes the horses an event or two to get back into the swing of things!

Next came Gatcombe where we took Foxy and Nanny. Again it rained just before the event which made conditions muddy, and most lorries had to be towed in! Both horses did good Dressage tests. Foxy jumped a nice clear round, but unfortunately Nanny was bogged down with the mud and had a few down. Both jumped well Cross Country, and Foxy finished a pleasing 4th, rectifying her mistake at Aldon!

We then went to Somerley Park with Dazzler and Meg both at Intermediate level. Dazzlers Dressage wasn’t her best, but again the sticky mud didn’t help. We were really pleased with Meg’s test as she really started to relax, but unfortunately the mark wasn’t as good as we had hoped. The ground in the Show Jumping was sticky, but Meg still jumped a nice clear round. Dazzler had two down but jumped a lot better than the previous week. They were both good Cross Country and Meg came 2nd, and Dazzler was just out of the placings.

Two days later I took Squiggle and Beau to Belmont Park for their first event (after the Bath and West was cancelled) both at Open Pre-Novice level. They both did very pleasing tests but Squiggle’s mark was weaker than at the end of last season (I don’t think it helped being 2nd to go!). Squiggle Show Jumped clear but was quite fresh. Beau wasn’t so good though and had 3 down. They both jumped nicely round the Cross Country and Squiggle finished 5th on her Dressage score, and Beau was 8th.

We now have Pontispool, Bicton and Stockland Lovell to look forward to. It is exciting because Dazzler and Foxy are doing their first Advanced at Bicton. It is my very first Advanced too! Squiggle has her first Novice at Stockland Lovell. This gives us lots to look forward to in the coming months, and lots of work to do to ensure they are ready to ‘move on up’.

All the horses are looking and feeling great after the winter months and I am certainly happy to recommend Dengie Horse Feeds for fit Event horses.