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Diary
January 2011
We celebrated the New Year in style after being invited to Julia (Crowson) & Michael Dungworth's Wedding. It was a stunning do and I certainly had my fair share of the champagne that was offered and finished it off with a trip to the Ice Horse Sculptured Vodka Luge!! My mum had Lily so we had a night off and I certainly made the most of it although I couldn't walk the next day my shoes were so high!! Ok so New Year's Day was a bit fuzzy but welcome 2011!
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Pic courtesy Nico Morgan Photography |
I did what everyone does after the festive period and signed up to do Weightwatchers....Online! So my life has become all about counting points and I was mightily encouraged as I lost 6lbs in my first week......and to date 4 weeks on I can't bloody believe it I've lost a stone!
 | With the 2011 eventing season almost in our sights the phone started ringing again and everyone wants a horse so we have literally been flat out ever since. Michael has been busy clocking up the miles and we have found some really good horses for potential clients. Fernhill Blue Diamond (Titch) who Michael showjumped last year has been sold to the States so we're currently looking for a replacement for him. Owner Sarah Melville was sad to see him go as he'd become quite a pet about the place and Sarah's head girl Julia delivered him to Stansted to wave him off on the plane.
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Paris (Zenith VI) has started the season well having been to his first show. He won the Discovery and jumped a super double clear in the 1.05 but it was too cold to stay and find out if he won a rosette in that class. He is lined up for more dressage and showjumping over the next couple of months and also a trip to BE Pathway training.
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 | Kate Maitland and I went to the Paul Sweeney Memorial Polo match which was held at Ash Farm Arena. Paul was a dear friend so wanted to support the event and I haven't been to Polo for ages. There was a really good atmosphere - the event was organised by Paul's daughter Charlotte who is a really talented player. The two teams that were playing were the Eagles and Clashleigh and was a high goal arena match.
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I have been busy planning which events we are going to not only with Zenith and we also have several trips to Europe lined up abroad.
Until next time......
October, November & December
Our last event of the season with Zenith was BCA as we missed the entries for Pulborough and there wasn't anything else worth entering. The weather was on the change and it was time to kit up in the wet weather gear. Zenith produced a another sub 30 in the dressage with a score of 29.5, a lovely clear showjumping round followed by him cruising around the cross country adding nothing to his dressage score to finish 2nd. An excellent way to end the season 19 BE points clocked up in one season with a 6yr old. A big thank you to Julia Zenith's headgroom as she has done a fantastic job with him. We were finished at BCA by lunchtime and with the car packed to the rafters we rushed on down to Folkestone to take the Eurotunnel across to France as we were off to Lignieres to watch the CCI* & CCI**.
| While the rest of the eventing fraternity were headed to Osberton and the mud or were at WEG we were headed to the sunshine. This is an excellent event although it's quite a drive we decided to stop enroute just the otherside of Paris and then get there in time for the lunchtime on the Thursday. Lignieres is right in the middle of nowhere but the event itself is excellent. The dressage and showjumping are on a surface and the cross country was testing enough. We spent most of the cross country watching both the action in France and the live TV action from WEG in Lucinda Fredericks or Zara's truck as they both had satellite TV. It was great fun to watch it with lots of riders from various nations as they're all cheering on someone different and there was a fantastic atmosphere. |  |
 | Back home next stop we went to watch at Pulborough although I was very disappointed with the standard of horses we saw here. It was slightly frustrating that Zenith would have romped around but he was happily enjoying his annual holiday. Our final horse viewing trip was again in France and off to Lion D'angers where they had the 6 & 7 yr old World Championships. We travelled over by ferry from Portsmouth to St Malo - this is the quickest route to drive the other side but the ferry is longer. It's very civilised as you are able to have a lovely meal in their A La Carte restaurant and here we happened to be on the next table to my hay supplier Frank Inns & his partner Jane Murfitt who had a horse at Lion being ridden by Australian Sammie Mcleod and that was it they were our NBF's (New Best Friends) for the weekend and we had an absolute blast with them. This year I was determined to watch the horses that were in the Event Horse Sale that they were holding on the Friday and Saturday Evening. |
I had my eye on a lovely 4 yr old that was stunning, we had our French friend Eric Grandiere, who happens to be a vet, check over the horse (as they all come pre vetted - which can be a bit of a risk) and he'd given us the green light. We also hooked up with Hammy & Jane Hamilton and had a table booked for the Auction dinner - it was fantastic fun especially when Frank started bidding on a horse for Jane which they bought and then the following evening Hammy did the same and he now has another bay mouth to feed. I got all revved up to buy my lovely grey horse but our limit was 20k and it went racing past that and I didn't even get to put my hand up...gutted. It was a great end to the season although Pau was still to run we'd done enough travelling for one season.
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 | November was the month of the '1st Birthdays' for all Lily's friends and herself. I was in a bit of a dilemma as to what to do. All the other mums were busy hiring venues and elaborate parties, there was Emma's Party at the Soft Play centre - Lily spent most of her time there playing with Jake in the toy Kitchen - good girl I have taught her well all the best parties end up in the kitchen!! A trip to Bockett's Farm was another venue - although it was freezing Lily found the tractor the most exciting thing - you can keep your goats and sheep. For her birthday I transformed our conservatory so it looked like the Early Learning Centre store and was not to be out done on the cake front......yep it was a Pony shaped cake!! I'm not sure where the last year has gone and that Lily is now perfecting the art of running....there is no off switch and now she's trying to talk we're in for big trouble!!
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| I was lucky enough to be invited for a days hunting with the Surrey Union by Master and event rider Alice Dunsdon. She kindly offered me her advanced horse that she was taking to Stuttgart for the Indoor Eventing Championships which took place mid November. I haven't been hunting for about 4 years and infact have hardly ridden since I was pregnant ... so 2 years really! So was slightly nervous when Alice and her partner in crime Nici Wilson & Kitty Christopherson were talking about hedge jumping and how big they were!! The meet was just behind the Parrot Inn Pub in Forest Green and there was an array of familiar eventing folk including Helen Wilson, Kate Lukas and her partner Matt and Justin Clubley. Michael & Lily pitched up with Grandma Jill so Lily's been to her first meet too!! I had the most fantastic day infact I only planned to stay out for a couple of hours but no I was there to the bitter end....despite the weather. It did absolutely tip down at 2nd horses and I was wet through to my nick nocks but i was determined to enjoy every minute on horseback and continued on. I jumped some enormous hedges...yep I got very brave however I did have one mis-communication where someone fell in a ditch two strides infront of me over a 'huge' hedge and I had no option but to bale out...noone hurt and I was soon back on board. I paid the price though I couldn't move for two days and Michael had not a jot of sympathy for me....men! | 
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The Snow.....it's boring now. It's scuppered my trip to Ireland horse shopping, I will endeavour to have a horse for the start of the 2011 season by hook or by crook! With empty stables at Pewit, Buggy has returned to her home and has been out showjumping with Anthony Condon and is ready to be sold. We miss her greatly and she has be out showjumping with the 'big boys' and her education with us has now finished. She was a lovely horse to deal with and someone will have an awful lot of fun with her. The only good thing is we don't have any horses at the moment climbing the walls!
 | Michael has been out showjumping with Titch to both Wellington & Merristwood and came home with rosettes both times. At Wellington he was 2nd in the Discovery - it was too cold to stay any longer and at Merristwood he finished 5th in a 1.05 class. He would have been placed in the 1.10m as well but Michael took a really quick route in the jump off and knocked a jump with his leg and the pole fell off which distracted Titch from jumping the last fence and he had it down!!! He will continue to showjump & dressage in the new year.
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Some good news - we received a letter from BE at the beginning of December telling us that Zenith has been put on the Equine Pathway so he will go on some of the training days at the beginning of January. Hopefully we will aim him to go to Lion D'angers for the 7yr old champs but we're not going to rush him, if he gets there he does and if not there's always another competition!!
Wishing everyone a wonderful Christmas & New Year and I look forward to updating you in 2011....
Until next year......
July, August & September
I definitely would have sacked me if I wasn't the boss as my diary updating has been completely crapola!!
I hadn't been to Hickstead for years so was really excited about the invitation from David Ashby from Amlin Plus who were sponsoring The Eventers Grand Prix. There was a great mix of people in the box including Lucinda & Lissa Green, Anna & Simon Hilton, Tim Stockdale & Jockey Andrew Thornton.
It was brilliant fun, we had the best seats in the house and it got really exciting at the end as all the riders were really going for it. A showjumper won it and really showed the eventers how it's done!!
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Zenith IV(Paris) has gone from strength to strength after BCA we headed to Salperton to run in the Novice. It was a scorching day, the cross country was a strong Novice track. He was green in the showjumping which was huge so with the ground being like the road we decided not to bother running him on that ground. To build his confidence back up Mary Melville (Paris's owner) was due to run at Shipton Moyne on her other horse Fernhill Blue Diamond but something came up so we slotted Paris into his place and ran him at Shipton Moyne in the Open Pre Novice. The track is like a mini Badminton and beautifully presented and he romped round to finish 3rd. The only bummer here was waiting till 7pm for the prizegiving.
With his confidence fully restored his next competition was Brightling Park to run in the Novice. The showjumping was on a par with Salperton and he jumped a super clear round and despite the big hill at the end of the cross country he finished quite strongly and finished 3rd ....4 more points!!
Aston Le Walls was next in his diary and although Nigel had done an excellent job with the advanced track the Novice track was hard and the showjumping even harder - he hated the going so again Michael took the decision not to run on hard ground. He is only 6 and we don't want to run him unnecessarily so we withdrew.
I haven't been to Chilham Castle for years I did the Novice there yonks ago and driving in couldn't remember much about it. The house is stunning and we thought the cross country would be low key - it was a strong track and a good indicator as to how brave Paris was feeling. He was a star and again finished 3rd producing his dressage best score so far this season....and just missed out for the second time on qualifying for a NRF.
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 | We finally ended the run of 'third-itus at Gatcombe where Paris produced another sub 30 dressage test - we all thought he would get a 38 - shows what we know!! It's the first time I've really seen him gallop and although he picked up a couple of time penalties he was still one of the fastest horses in his section. He was pipped at the post by Clayton Fredericks....I'm sure this was payback for Michael beating him on the Tennis court in Mallorca!! He finished 2nd and has now qualified for a NRF in 2011. He's clocked up 14 BE points so far this season and still has two events left to run in.
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We decided that mid season we would take a two week break in Mallorca. I haven't missed Burghley for years so watching it poolside was a bit of a novelty! We were lucky enough to be invited to the Melville's stunning villa in Mallorca. It's far too big for just Michael Lily & I to rattle around in so we invited Sally Carson & Richard Allen, Kate Maitland & Brian Hislop, Lucinda & Clayton Fredericks and Ellie for the first week. It was non stop fun, there was golfing, tennis, beach, shopping and fabulous restaurants.
The Freds hadn't been before and are used to travelling to the other side of the world for a holiday so a two hour flight was nothing. It must have been an excellent Burghley prep for Clayton as he finished 3rd. The following week my great friend Keith Grimbleby and my parents joined us....it was non stop. Ten days was long enough for me to be away but Michael could have stayed for another month! Lily ate lots of sand and survived so we can go again next year!!
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Haras du Pin was excellent. We decided early on in our event planning that this would be a good event to go to ...apart from the wasps!! It was organised by Yannick Le Goupil who I used to share a house with in Tetbury, and previously organised Martinvast so we knew it was going to be a great event. Held at the amazing French National Stud you couldn't ask for a more picturesque venue. Brian Hislop added to the entertainment and came out with us. We decided not to ferry it although this was the best option for the horses and took the tunnel across. After a 3 hour journey we went straight to the hotel to drop our bags off....a small technical hitch...no reservation!!!
Haras du Pin is in the middle of nowhere so hotels were in short supply and very booked up. Luckily we managed to quickly book into 3 different n to see different places......lots of chambre d'hotes!! It was a brilliant event, a stunning area and we wished we'd bought Paris to do the 1 star as it wasn't strong at all and would have suited him well. I'm sure there will lots more competitors hopping across the channel next year.
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Buggy has continued her showjumping career and is now turning out to be very careful and is now moving up the levels having jumped a Newcomers at Vicarge Farm and is very consistently jumping double clears. Fernhill Blue Diamond (Titch) won a class the other day and is gradually clocking up the prize money so they are all going well. I'm still horseless but am planning another trip over to Ireland shortly...I'll have a new horse by hook or by crook before the year is out!!
Until next time.......
June 2010
| I took on a new role at Brigstock as the Press Officer for the event. I competed at Brigstock many moons ago when they ran an advanced class there and it is a lovely venue. The Laing family really try to do as much as possible to make it a rider friendly event and I certainly think they do that. I managed to get the BBC to do both a live radio interview and a TV Interview at the event so we nabbed Oliver Townend to do both. We had planned that Paris (Zenith IV) would run in the Pre Novice (I still can't get my head around calling it BE100) as it was an excellent galloping track rather than go to Mattingley which would have been a twisty track for him. So Julia, The Melville's excellent head girl drove Paris all the way to Northamptonshire but it paid off as Michael finished 7th and was great preparation for his next event when he was stepping up to Novice. |  |
 | The washing machine went non stop as we did a quick turn around before catching the ferry over to Ireland to go to Tattersalls to watch the event. We hopped on the fast ferry which only takes two hours but I was very green for those two hours and Michael & Lily disowned me whaling around on a sofa. It's only just a 30 minute drive to Tatts and the facilities are fabulous for both riders and horses. We also had horses lined up for competitors to see so were quite busy showing them during the event. We stayed at Dunboyne Castle and enjoyed an evening in the bar with Winston Williams, Mark Ford (see pic), Fergal Nesbitt and Lily (she was in her PJ's) although she slept through most of it. It's a great event and I would really like to compete there in the near future. We did find a lovely horse for ourselves which we shipped back to the UK but when it arrived it had a series of issues so it was sent back - I'm destined never to have another horse...... I've booked tickets to go back again soon. |
| Buggy has been out showjumping several times, to Smith's Lawn, Pachesham and Snowball Farm. She is consistently jumping double clear around Discovery classes and is really starting to get the hang of it and would have won some prize money if she had of been registered (which she now is!!). Paris won the Discovery at Pachesham and Titch (Fernhill Blue Diamond) has been jumping 1.05 classes double clear and he is raring to go. | |
 | Paris did his first Novice at BCA and rose to the challenge brilliantly and finished 8th. Michael didn't rush him around the cross country due to the ground although I found it difficult to compare it in difficulty to Salperton which Paris was entered to run at next. Julia brought her boyfriend Paul to the Salperton to act as co-driver, he's not horsey and was gutted to be missing the England World Cup match. It was the hottest weekend this year and Paris was not really on the ball in the dressage after being distracted by the horseflys, he also went a tadge green in the showjumping as did many others and had three down so we decided not to run him on the hard ground so Paul made it home to watch the end of the England match!! Luckily Paris was then entered to run at Shipton Moyne with Mary riding but due to end of exams and an abundance of 18th birthday parties taking their toll it was decided that Michael would ride him instead. He skipped round to finish 3rd in the Open BE100 and a great confidence giving round before he runs around a Novice again.
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"All I want for christmas is me two front teeth......." la la la Lily's got hers so she's no longer know as gummy. I'm delighted to say she's also been taking a healthy in the horse trials that she's been visiting and having spent three days at Barbury had her eye on the collecting ring horse spotting!! We had a very amusing time as we decided to take her for a photo shoot Venture Photographic Studio in Eton, obviously she's the most smiley child ever except when there's a professional camera in her face.....We went armed with all sorts of props (including tennis racquet and balls - don't ask) which was a complete waste of time as she spent most of the time crying so we abandoned the mission and decided that we'd come back another day. I'm pleased to report that on our second visit we had our smiley child back and hopefully we've got some good shots.
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We've been busy on the road looking at horses and have had a successful time recently finding some good horses for people.
Until next time.....
May 2010
Next stop was Badminton. We headed down on Friday morning to get there in time to watch Archie (Imperial Cavalier's) dressage as he had an early draw. Afterwards we met up with Janette Chinn, her partner Derek, her mother Sue Davies and friend Zoe Eyres to walk the course which i really enjoyed and Lily kept up a sterling pace around her first Badminton. Now I have to try and be a responsible parent we decided the best option for the weekend was the HTSG (Horse Trials Support Group) which we had joined and was a god send after all the rain which was followed by Mud! Rosemary Barlow does an excellent job of hosting their marquee which has TV screens, a bar and yunmmy food that you don't have to get into a rugby scrum for. It was definitely worth the money and I'd urge more people to join up - it was also a hive of activity for many owners so it was a real hot spot of Badminton.
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| We stayed in a cottage at the The Great Tythe Barn just outside Tetbury....never again. My mum used to stay there 20 years ago when I was based with Angela & Mike Tucker and I don't think they've touched the place since then. They'd bumped the price up just for Badminton and they omitted to tell us that they had too noisy wedding receptions booked that weekend so not only did I attend Badminton I danced at two wedding receptions from my bed - not amused!! It was very exciting that Archie finished 4th, he's some horse - he's now finished 2nd, 3rd and 4th at CCI**** which is quite some achievement. Kate Maitland hooked up with us at the Horse & Groom in Charlton for dinner and it was such a find. Michael and I also thought we'd treat ourselves to a dinner at Whatley Manor which is owned by FEI Judge Christian Landholt and is absolutely stunning. Lily scuppered our quiet evening and I ate my starter alone while Michael and a whaling Lily were outside checking out the grounds. Note to self.....take Grandma next year!! Congratulations to Paul Tapner he deserved to win he's been on cracking form all year. |  |
 | Buggy has finally turned a corner and after another successful show jump training at Vicarage Farm we decided we'd venture out to her first show. We expected her to be like a spoilt brat and have at least one tantrum but she was brilliant, her behavior was second to none and she didn't have one girly shout. She jumped really well double clear in the 90cm. She then went straight into the big arena and she popped around the British Novice jumping clear but Michael didn't think he'd get into the jump off so didn't walk it. He didn't know quite where he was going and she had a couple of rails down but that was pilot error. Michael never likes to rush the horses and although it was only tiny classes she came away having had a good experience and will be confident for next time...which hopefully won't be too long.
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| It's been 12 months since we actually took a horse to an event so I was uber excited and I wasn't even riding. Michael was riding Sarah and Mary Melville's Zenith IV (Paris) at Hambleden a horse they bought at the end of last season from Neil Spratt. Paris was a little rusty in the dressage and scored 35.5, he showjumped really well although he had a numpty rail down, it wasn't quite big enough for him. He whizzed around the cross country inside the optimum time like a real pro. Lily managed to get a good viewing point on the course and managed to see 7 fences and was very pleased with Daddy's performance. Unfortunately the rail cost him a rosette but we hope to rectify that at Brigstock!! |
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| We also whizzed up to Aston Le Walls to watch the Intermediate horses run and it was great to catch up with my great mate Sally Carson who's advanced horse Too Bahru was out competing with JP Sheffield. Her partner Richard Allen was also there with his 'one to watch' daughter Harriet Allen but after a 4am start he was trying to catch up on a few zzzzzz's in the lorry!!! |  |
 | This month has been a sad one for me I had to make the decision to have Jerry (Uptown) put down. He has been a massive part of my life for the last 14 years. We bought him as a 5yr old from Tim Warren and never ever looked back. He was opinionated and arrogant but he had the most amazing jump I'd ever sat on. On the first day he arrived he jumped the fence into another field which he did all his life even up until the day before he was put down. I have had so much fun, excitement, frustration and above all he gave he so much experience that I now find invaluable. He went through one season only touching one show jump, he jumped round Blenheim CCI*** double clear after only one previous advanced run, he jumped around the biggest CCI*** I ever rode at Pau the year after the Europeans and of 15 british horses only 5 finished and we were one of them!! There were many frustrations including a virus at Saumur CCI*** which continued to Gatcombe Intermediate Championships, and my biggest regret was falling at Lulworth Advanced 3 weeks before he was entered for Burghley - although I did share a helicopter with Blyth Tait and my broken rib! I know that with a top rider he would have sailed round 4 star tracks, Pippa Funnell always used to refer to him as her 'favourite horse' but he had to put up with dippy old me who missed him every so often and it never phased him. He wasn't a brilliant mover but I knew his strengths and weaknesses, 8's & 9's for his trot work, 5's and if I was lucky 6's for his canter work and forget the flying changes they just blew his brain! He was a celebrity for a year when we were both featured as the Monthly Diarists in Eventing Magazine. He was a stunning horse with so much presence, he would quite often tow my mother around at events but he was an angel to do anything too except catch but a scoop of nuts did the trick. He was also there for me during the black periods in my life, he never judged me, he was always happy to see me and was a real true friend.
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And to add to the sadness at 32 yrs old, Jerry's constant field companion, ex high goal polo pony Mandrelli had not come through the winter well and for that reason I decided that he should be put down with Jerry, both mates together. They had a fab life and I shall miss them both terribly. RIP Jerry & Mandrelli. xxxx
Until next time.......
March & April 2010
A bad workman blames his tools so I'm blaming my new Mac for misbehaving and not letting me update the diary.
 | The beginning of March was again a 'will it won't it time' - snow......rain, it really was amazing that the Eventing season got underway at all. We headed off to Tweseldown for our first event of the season and thank god they have that wonderful new marquee otherwise I definately would have lost the will to live and potentially I would have ended up having to thaw Lily out when we got home. It was great to see everyone after the winter break even if they did all have nose dribbles!. Next stop was Aldon it had rained all week non stop so how they ran it I don't know but Michael had to video a horse that was slopping about in the mud bath that were disguised as dressage arenas. I wasn't popular as I managed to get the buggy filthy and after just over an hour we left having not seen one horse over a cross country fence. Michael went to the other end of the country the next day to Lincoln where the going was much better and the sun even made an appearance but Lily and I had done enough trucking about for one weekend so we stayed at home. |
Gatcombe was our next stop and almost tropical, we had a very enjoyable weekend watching mostly showjumping and cross country and I think we have now nearly watched every Intermediate horse in the country compete!! Check out the picture ...we're in the background!! Michael's final event of March was Somerley Park, Hampshire where he had to watch another horse and did his cross country video which are proving very popular.
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 | Lily, without sounding a bore is a fabulous baby, yes, I know everyone thinks their own baby is and yes she regularly does 11 hours sleeping a night which I can't quite believe, but knowing how much I like sleeping I shouldn't be surprised that I've passed that on. She's been to most of the events and I feel like she can finally go outside without catching hypothermia! We've joined Monkey Music (I can't believe I just wrote that) which she loves and will be walking fairly soon and then we're in big trouble. Lily received an invite to her first birthday party - Iris von Rijckevorsel's 1st Birthday. This was a whole new experience and a little surreal I couldn't believe I was discussing breast feeding versus bottle feeding with the other mums! Another eventing baby there was Lexi Meyer (daughter of Kiwi rider Joe Meyer) so I could see the next generation of event riders all under the age of 2! |
At the end of March it was Janette's (Chinn) 40th which was Sunday lunch at a hotel in Tarporley that turned into a massive rave that finished at 4am the next morning back at Janette's house. We had an excellent table with Ewart Wooley, Louise Lyons and Race Horse Trainer Anne Hewitt. We ducked out early 6.30pm as we had to dash over to Leicestershire for a meeting on the Monday morning. It was my first hangover since having Lily and I've just remembered why it's best not to drink too much!! I understand that Janette was slightly the worse for wear the next day but I think she really enjoyed it and it was a great celebration......roll on the next one!!
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Watching the cross country with Ken Clawson & Vicky Brake | Next we headed off to Compiegne in France at the beginning of April to watch the CCI**. It was closer than going to Burnham Market, Norfolk and a much more picturesque setting (sorry Alec). It was a bit of a damp squid as far as the Brits were concerned but there was definately something a bit funny about the number of horses they were allowed to take compared to the other nations (only 7). There were rather a lot of 4 star horses competing and in my eyes chasing the 10,000 euro prize fund - I think Michael Jung should be banned from competing there next year as he's won it for the last 3 years. It's not a hugely busy event spectator wise but it's interesting to see the horses competing at that level early in the season. Our green horses definately struggled with the minor adjustments Pierre Michelet had made to the course and it even caught out Frank Osholt on one of his four star horses. We stayed in a little hotel in the centre of the town where we've stayed for the last 4 years and although it's not glamorous it's cheap and very easy to get to and from the event. I did manage some shopping in the town with Lily & Grandma and walked from the town to the event which only takes 2 minutes in the car....45 minutes later I decided it wasn't the best idea in the world and wouldn't be walking back. |
| Buggy has finally got to get out and about. She's been cross country schooling twice to Tweseldown and once to Littleton Manor Equestrian Centre and has improved every time out and has some showjumping lined up. On her first trip to Tweseldown Michael went on his own and she was petrified of everything, but on her return visit she was much more grown up and even jumped some Novice fences. The water wasn't as scary and she walked in without any help from Paris (Mary Melville's horse) who'd come along to play nanny. Paris on the other hand has been out showjumping with Michael to Merristwood and is being aimed at Hambleden PN as his first run of the season. Mary is busy concentrating on her studies so Michael is just keeping them ticking over for her. So I'm quite excited that we're actually going to an event with a horse - we even bought a Two Point Air Jacket the other day!! Will report on that in my next diary. |  |
I popped over to Ireland for the day with Bryony Holloway to look for horses. I did see one but it was in the field with a rug on which couldn't be tried for a couple of weeks and Bryony found two lovely young horses so good for her and bad for me. I was planning to fly back over but the Volcanic Ash has put the mockers on that for now.
Until next time......
DIARY ARCHIVE
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