Pau Results

It was fantastic that Seacookie held onto his lead in the show jumping to win Pau and secure a much deserved 4* win.

By the time he came to jump he had a fence in hand which is always a relief.  But he unfortunately used this up at the treble at fence 6, carrying on leaving a long and nerve racking second half to his round.  However he jumped very well and coped with the atmosphere and pressure brilliantly.

Cool Mountain came out of his XC round really well, and was on great form.  He was very unlucky to roll a pole in the show jumping, but still finished a very satisfying third.   It is just brilliant to have him back looking and feeling so well, and his owner T was rightly very proud to see him back at the top level after a couple of seasons off.

Neuf des Coeurs was the only sadness of the weekend having 5 down in the show jumping when lying in third place.  This was so disappointing after his fantastic XC round, and was a total shock as he felt good and warmed up really well.   I would love to have an explanation and I wondered if he found the new sand arena, which is a massive improvement, just quite hard work.

The show jumping course was particularly big and technical, so we all felt it would be very influential.  Every fence measured a good 1.30m and out of the sand was probably nearer 1.40m – a very big fence on a horse that can only be slightly tired having galloped 4 miles the day before.  Clear rounds were therefore very rare and were mainly only secured by the real jumping horses. 

So it was excellent to round-up a very busy 2013 with a 4* win.  Pau was a very enjoyable event, the weather was beautiful and, as always, there was a great atmosphere.  The French spectators are very supportive and enthusiastic, giving the competition a real buzz.

The Pau team did a superb job, particularly putting down the new main sand arena.  We were all made to feel very welcome, it would just be lovely if owners had a good spectator stand to watch from!