Chatsworth, Saturday

We have had a very happy day at Chatsworth with Georgisaurous having his first Novice win.  He led from the outset with a lovely Dressage of 23 which was well in the lead.  He did a very good test and I am very pleased he got that mark.  He was very focused and settled and is going as well as any 6yo event horse could go.  I was particularly impressed with him in the show jumping as even though he jumped a super clear he really coped well with the atmosphere of the main arena.  I really brought him here just to expose him to a bigger atmosphere and he far exceeded my expectations, in fact I think he jumped the best round he ever has.  He was still comfortably in the lead and I decided to let him run on a bit cross country, and again he was very relaxed and focused and came home with 1.6 time faults which was plenty fast enough, and there were only four inside the time in his section.  He coped very well with the undulations and was not at all keen and strong which he has been in the past.  He took all the direct routes very easily and won in the end comfortably by a couple of marks.  I was very pleased for Robert and Pep Glen who were here watching as this was a very big day for them and a big win, particularly as he is campaigning for Lion d'angers in October.

Little Fire also did the Dressage today, in his first Advanced, and he is at the moment just in the lead on a score of 29.  He did some good work in his test and was very relaxed but there were a few imperfections which would have cost him dearly.    However I was not at all worried about any of those and was very happy that he did his first flying changes in a test cleanly and confidently.  He is jumping and cross country tomorrow and I am happy that he is more than ready to tackle the decent cross country.  It would also be good for him to meet the atmosphere in the main arena which could cause him a bit of tension.  

They have had a bit of rain up here and the ground, although firm, is pretty good.  They are making a good print and as always the courses are beautifully presented and and very educational.