May 2008 |
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| An eventful day at Pontispool BE. Early heavy rain left everything wet and sticky and Ben decided that dressage was far too boring with numerous bucks in the canter and then reversing out of the arena just before the end of the test to be eliminated! However he was allowed to do the other two phases and produced a lovely double clear and as usual his naughtiness disappeared with a fence in front of him. Archie then followed suit and also misbehaved in his dressage; we won't forget the nupafeed ever again! He then had the first fence down show jumping before getting his act together, but stormed round the cross country to finish 10th overall. |
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| Archie at Bickenhall BE, his second affiliated event. He arrived in the winter to try out eventing having previously done mostly flat showing and a little jumping. A typical Conemara and actually related to the superstar Rebel I had a couple of years ago, he is thriving on the work and loves to jump, although he has a very independent mind that i have to work hard to get him to listen to me all the time. He did is first totally controlled dressage test at Bickenhall, but unfortunately this wasn't reflected in his mark was followed by two show jumps down soley due to over-exuberance and then a fantastic cross country round where for the first time he totally trusted me and attacked the course. He may only be 14.2hh, but he definitely doesn't know it and just loves to gallop and jump and so is great fun to ride. |
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| Ben competing at his first BE event at Bickenhall. They say the really talented ones can be tricky and Ben fits that perfectly having the most athletic buck imaginable and finding parties the best time to show it off. However by bringing him early and several warm ups we managed just about to contain him for the dressage followed by one show jump down and he cruised round the cross country without any hesitation. A horse who is going to need lots of time, but has the potential to be exceptional. |
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| March/ April 2008 |
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| Portia competing at her very first BE event at Bath and West (8th place) representing a major career change as she has bred two foals. Very rideable in the dressage with a huge jump she needs a little more practise cross country as she likes to weigh up each jump herself and is very intelligent. She reminds me so much of my now retired mare, Steeler's Texarkana who had exactly the same attitude and competed at CCI*** advanced level so I love riding her and have high hopes for the future. |
Thomas (kernal Clover) competing at Portman PN where he finished 4th, followed by 8th at Ebbesbourne Wake later that month with his 4th double clear of the season. He has now been sold to Charlotte Bonnar who will aim him for JRNs in the future. A lovely straight forward affectionate horse, he will be missed! |
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| May 2007 |
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New arrival Chardonnay (stable name Donny) is a stunning Belgium warmblood with a gorgeous temperament and tremendous talent.
Just second time out on the cross country course he showed great enthusiasm and honesty, jumping everything without question |
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| Aragon may only be four but has taken to cross country like a duck to water; he absolutely loves it and wants to jump everything! |
| April 2007 |
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Rebecca 9 years old and Strawberry (13.1hh) who after a few months
of lessons are now flying around the show jumps ready for their first
competition at the end of
the month |
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| Jemma loves her jumping putting in the enormous energy and enthusaism into it. She will soon be doing her first event. |
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| Aragon is now looking super smart with his summer coat coming through and showing a big bold jump although as he is only rising four we are still taking it slowly |
| March 2007 |
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New arrival Jemma owned by Sam Mckay has fabulous paces, huge jump and endless energy. She has come for me to compete with the intention
of selling her
later this year. She has all the ingredients of a top eventer and I can't wait to get going with her. |
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New arrival Midney has come for me to event. A tough cookie who has all the talent, but a bit of attitude and gets strong jumping, she is going
to take
a little time for me to get her on my side. |
| Febuary 2007 |
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| Ben back from his winter holiday has come back into work very quickly and is so confident and careful jumping. A small sore on the corner of his mouth led to me trying him an a hackamore which he loves and is honest and straight enough to jump a filler on its own with it. On the right he is competing in the eventers show jumping which consisted of 15 fences show jumping and cross country including skinnies, a corner and angled double where he posted a lovely clear round. He really has star quality and I am thrilled that Anita his owner has decided to keep him for me to event this year; I can't wait to get him out on the cross country course! |
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| Aragon at his first dressage competition where he was an angel although desperate to chat to the other horses in the warm up and a little vocal during the test too |
| January 2007 |
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Aragon having lots of fun as the jumps get a bit higher. Nothing much fazes this chap! |
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Aragon now looking distinctively more grown up, has his first jumping lesson and really enjoys himself. In just a few weeks he has earned himself the accolade of being the easiest horse I have backed. Next step is to get him shod and start hacking out before preparing for some baby competitions in the spring. |
| December 2006 |
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| Aragon now backed is behaving very well and progressing quickly. He has lovely expressive paces and now needs to slowly build up his stamina. |
| November 2006 |
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New arrival 3 year old Aragon having a lunge lesson in preparation for being backed over the next few weeks. A very sensible and affectionate youngster with superb paces he should be a serious contender for young horse classes next year. |
| October 2006 |
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Ben competing at unaffiliated dressage and show jumping practise where he has got so cocky over the small fences we have to build something bigger to make him concentrate! He jumps 1.20m completly effortlessly. |
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Rebel at Weston Park CCI** where he produced a very nice, controlled dressage test in the pouring rain. Unfortunately delays due to falls on the cross country course, meant we were on the course late when the sun was very low on the sky and it blinded us coming into an early fence. We recovered and as you can see he was jumping very big, but I decided after that early sop to retire him later on before the very troublesome corner coffin combination which many riders felt was an unfair test as many horses left legs in the ditch leading to numerous massy jumps, stops and falls. |
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| Rebel at Hartpury CCI* where he did a fabulous double clear to finish on a good dressage test of 55.4 where he just managed to control his exuberance except for one buck and flying change in the canter. He was 21st out of 100 starters and just got in the prize money. |
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| Ben behaved wonderfully at Hartpury BYEH to finish just out of the placings in a huge class. He enjoyed himself imensely and his true potential is becoming clear. |
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Rebel storms through the water at Stockland Lovell Intermediate in a cracking round marred only by a technical refusal where the judge deemed him to be presented to a fence. |
June 2006 |
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| Ben is really enjoying his jumping and has now been out to some small competitions where he takes it all in his stride. |
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Poppy at her first competition, unaffiliated dressage at Stockland Lovell where she behaved very well. |
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Rebel at his first intermediate BE at Sansaw where he jumped a lovely clear round show jumping and stormed around the cross country with just a silly run out taking him out of the placings. |
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May 2006 |
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| Ben has really taken to his jumping and is progressing quickly. He finds it so easy. Hopefully he will go to some baby competitions next month. |
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| Tommy has come on in leaps and bounds. Now he has relaxed into his work, his paces are fabulous and it would be hard to find a horse with a more powerful, uphill canter with fantastic hind leg action. He loves jumping and gives you an incredible feeling of power over a fence. He is now ready to be sold and I think he will go quickly although I would love to keep him longer and take him out to some competitions. See horses for sale for more info. |
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| Rebel at Stockland Lovell Novice event where he finished 10th. Due to never ending rain his next two events at Chepstow and Cleobury Mortimer were cancelled and so his next outing is at Sansaw intermediate. |
| April 2006 |
| Second jumping lesson and Ben already shows perfect technique. It is just so easy for him which isn't suprising as he is by Grade A show jumper Chairman out of a TB Advanced Event mare. |
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Ben having is very first jump with a rider on board. He was completely unfazed and loved it, although after a few
jumps decided that it was also pretty tiring! I am sure his stamin will increase after a few more sessions. |
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Rebel at Pontispool event where his dressage test was spoiled by an explosion of bucks in the canter! However
another double clear gained him another point and jumping wise he will soon be ready to go intermediate. |
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| New arrival Tommy, a 9 year old 16.3 TB X Trakhener gelding who is for sale showing off his amazing, elavated paces. |
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Rebel has excelled himself eventing jumping double clear in his first 3 events including gaining a point in the Novice class
at Portman where he finished 9th on his dressage score of 37.1. Eager to get on with the jumping he does get rather tense
in the dressage so we now have to work harder on this phase.
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| March 2006 |
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| Lotty at a residential camp at Stockland Lovell with her owner Alison where she was brilliant, taking it all in her stride. |
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Ben now backed doing some of his first ridden work. He has lovely natural balance and paces but is a sensitive soul and we are taking everything slowly to establish a good foundation. |
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Lotty on her very first outing to unaffiliated dressage where she behaved perfectly and really tried her best. |
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Rebel on his first outing to a cross country clinic with Clarissa Bleekman at Pontispool. Whilst he was too excited to stand still at all during the 2 hours he was fabulous jumping and just couldn't get enough of it. It is going to be a chalenge to tire this horse out! |
| February 2006 |
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| New arrival Rebel may only be small but has springs in his feet when it comes to jumping and definitiely knows the job. Owned by Merna Merret Rebel has come to be evented by Isobel for the season. He is entered for the prenovice at Aldon in 3 weeks. |
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| Ben who is rising 4 years came 2 weeks ago to be backed and bought on to be sold. He is a beautiful youngster with elegant paces and a really sweet temperament always trying to please. He is working well on the lunge and has just started having a rider on board. He is a horse that it will be well worth taking some time as the result should be something quite special. |
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Poppy jumping at home. She is gradually learning to calm down and think about what she is doing and showing great potential. Hopefully she will start to go out to some baby competitions soon. |
| January 2006 |
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Lotty came to broken before Christmas having had a foal last year. She has a lovely temperament wanting to please and has progressed quickly with these photos taken on her third session of jumping. |
July 2005 |
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Poppy all spruced up for the KWPN grading. She behaved very well and was liked by the judges who awarded her 66-68% for paces and 72% for loose jumping where she showed excellent technique and very bold attitude. |
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Alex, a work placement student who is with us for 4 weeks, jumping her horse Boris who is an Irish Draught Cross. |
Jenny jumping Billy, a four year old Irish TB, who is giving the fence plenty of room despite the rain! |
| June 2005 |
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Lily one of our livery horses having some jumping practise with Isobel. Her owner Robyn will be taking her to Pony Club rallies and shows once she breaks up from school. |
Naomi and Jasper another livery concentrating hard as they do troting poles. Naomi has had Jasper a couple of months and is aiming the 6 year old for Stockland Lovell Intro event in a few weeks time. |
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Poppy is proving sharp and sometimes naughty, but with lovely balanced paces... |
...and an amazing jump! |
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Jay is sold to Gemma Adams to show jump where I am sure he will be very successful |
A lovely character, he will be sadly missed |
| April and May 2005 |
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| Indie competing at Portman PN where she was clear cross country. |
Poppy starts jumping and whilst poles on the ground posed a challenge at the beginning she adores jumping and shows tremendous natural ability. |
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The show jumps are moved out in the field and Jay shows he has an impressive jump developing |
Eric a four year old potential event horse owned by livery Naomi Pine has his first dressage outing. |
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Indie does a fabulous dressage of over 76% at Blackdown Hills Event |
Murphy enjoying his show jumping at Stockland Lovell. |
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| Febuary and March 2005 |
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Jenny show jumping Murphy's Muddle in preparation for the spring events starting with Portman PN on April 6th |
New arrival Poppy confined to her stable having sprained her fetlock joint having just been backed. Hopefully she will be back in action soon to prepare for young event horse classes |
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Isobel and Jay who although only in work a few weeks having been broken before Christmas is showing lots of talent on the flat.... |
as well as jumping. He will hopefully start some small competitions soon with the aim to doing some BYEH classes and Prenovice Events in the late Spring |
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Indie, a thoroughbred mare who will compete prenovice this spring starting with Portman is definitely enjoying her show jumping |
and showed real scope at her first outing to a show jumping clinic at Stockland Llovel |