Dauntsey

Henton for Fun was having his last Open Novice run and was never going to go cross country.  It was opposite to last time out as he got 20 dressage and was well in the lead.  Again he did do a lovely test but you never know if it will be appreciated.  He show jumped a good clear round so we were happy with him.

I had my second run on Seventh Heaven and this time it was a Novice.  He did a perfectly acceptable dressage and scored 30, and then show jumped well.  I very stupidly jumped the wrong last fence and was eliminated.  But I was allowed to run cross country which was very kind of them and he went brilliantly.  Again he was very straight and confident which bodes well for the future.

The Graduate was having another Novice run and did a nice test of 27.  He was much more relaxed this time and did nothing wrong at all.  He then show jumped much better and put in a very solid clear round, and he was excellent cross country with a  good clear and seven time faults which saw him finish in 7^th .  He felt very solid and honest cross country which was good to know.

I was very excited to have Volcan doing his first event in the UK.  We have only had him for a couple of weeks so it was very early days. He is a very cool customer and did a very relaxed test to score 29.  There is lots of improvement to come but he is reasonably straight forward to ride.  Show jumping he was very excited and keen, and was unlucky to have one pole down.  He otherwise jumped well, and he enjoyed the cross country putting in a solid clear round.  It is early days but he was quite exuberant and strong so hopefully at Aston on Sunday he will have relaxed a bit.

Hector also had a pleasing day, Kite did a reasonable dressage had an unlucky pole down but is jumping well, and went very confidently and happy cross country for 7 time faults.

Yes I Can produced his best test to date of 29, Hector was very pleased with how true he felt, he jumped well and was very unlucky to just knock the last fence down, cross country was very comfortable for him and he did a lovely clear inside the time to finish in 2^nd place, which is his best result to date.

Beanie Sturgis and her team have done an excellent job with the Novice course, which was very bold and inviting.  The ground was inevitably on the firm side but was very level and did not rattle.  If it stays dry that could be our last run for a little while, but it was a very good outing to have had.