Tweseldown

We had the most beautiful day at Tweseldown yesterday which set off the two days brilliantly.

My day started with Georgisaurous, and he had another very good outing.  He led the dressage on a score of 26.8, which I actually thought was a bit of a mean mark as he really did nothing wrong.  He jumped a good clear and then went very well cross country.  He got 8 time faults which dropped him down into 5th place, but I still would like to settle him a bit more on the cross country and not worry about speeding around for the time.

It was a good pre novice course at this stage in the season and the overall opinion was that Rachael the organiser is doing a great job with getting Tweseldown back.

I then had Little Fire in the Intermediate.  The timings went a bit awol as the cross country was running so late, so we didn't get much warm-up for the dressage, he got 33.4.  He did some lovely work but his eyes were still out on stalks.

He show jumped mainly very well and was unfortunate to have two down.  He then gave me his usual perfect round cross country, but with the customary time faults.  Jenny and Tom were both there to watch him at his first outing which was great.

I then had My Lucky Day also in the Intermediate and although he was initially relaxed, he then became very much on edge and was very tense in the dressage to score 39.  He then jumped a lovely clear show jumping, but again was very dicey at the start of the cross country.  It took me quite a long time to get him to go towards the first fence, however once he did, he did go quite well.  I very much hope he will be more relaxed next time out for his third run.

Today we had seven Novices there from the yard so it was a very busy one.  

Volcan du Barquet has now upgraded to Intermediate with a double clear.  He did a much better test than last week and he scored 31.3.  He show jumped beautifully and went very comfortably around the cross country.  So it bodes well for his first Intermediate next weekend at Aldon.

Yes I Can was also having his first run of the season and his dressage was not quite as good as he can do.  He scored 32.8 but there is some homework to be done there.  He then did a lovely double clear and felt very happy and confident cross country.

Shannondale Percy led the dressage with a lovely test of 23.3 and then jumped a class clear show jumping, he went round the cross country very confidently giving me a great feel and collected a few usual time faults.  

FC Torino had a very pleasing day, his dressage wasn't quite as good as last week, and he scored 31.  He then jumped a very confident double clear and was great fun to ride.  He feels very confident and I would hope it won't be long before he can tackle Intermediate.

Oratorio had another good day, he did a lovely test but only got 30.8 which was a little bit harsh. I am very happy with how he is going and that is what really matters.  He then jumped a very solid clear show jump, and gave me a super ride cross country, really going in a way I like all my horse to go - very rhythmical, relaxed and confident.

Andrew then had two there.  He was riding Seventh Heaven again who had another good day, he was much more relaxed this time, and gave Andrew a very good feel.  Daddy's Quest was out for the first time and also had a very good day. She was a little bit tense in the dressage and then did a super double clear.

Everything seemed to go very well at Tweseldown but my only comment would be that some of the dressage arena builders were not the best with a tape measure!  The cross country courses all rode very well for this time of the season, and considering all the rain we have had the ground was very decent.