Blaencwm Jester 1st Blue Chip b&c Qualifier Addington Premier show November 2011

January

November and December

Well its that time of year where the days are drawing in and we  concentrate on the young ones including breaking in 3yos. I did have time for a couple of shows though!

In November I took 4 down to Addington Premier. They were all placed which was lovely. Hotshot and Aim High jumped double clears in the 1.30ms, Athena jumped foxhunter and was placed in the 1.25 qualifier and Chester topped it off by winning on the final day! I was so pleased with the 6yos that I have now turned them away for a well earned break so they'll all be coming in after Christmas.

December was Hartpury Spectacular which is always a great show  - took the 2 'older ones' (7 & 8!). Amy was placed 3rd the 1st day and unlucky in the jump off of the Grand Prix on the 2nd... Hotshot was Mr Consistency again! Jumping double clear both days to finish 11th on the 1st day and 12th in the Grand Prix!

The youngsters have also been out to play with Britannicus well on his way to his 4 double clears in Newcomers (1.10m).  Carabella has been to her 1st affiliated show and jumped a lovely double clear in British Novice and finally Cerasina has been to her 1st show and jumped clear takiing  wind, ponies and spooky fences all in her stride.

October

Back from Horse of the Year Show with 1 down in the 6yo Final. The only fence he touched and he jumped amazing, so we are already on looking towards next year....

September

Well Scope proved to be a fantastic Show! Ruxton Aim High jumped double clear in the National 1.30m Championship to finish 10th and Art D'Usance (aka Harry) made his owner very happy by jumping a treble clear in the 6yos to place 8th.....and qualify for HOYS! ........... Roll on next month!!

August
Just a quick update. I've been having a busy summer and all the horses have been going well. I decided not to do the 2nd rounds this year but the nice thing is that they've already all qualified for their respective 2nd rounds for next year.

I have just returned from Addington Young Horse Championships - all 5 horses made the finals! Cambrensis R had a run out but jumped clear ( not bad for his 3rd show!) in the 4yo British bred Final and gained his licence! Art D'usance finished 14th in the Non British bred 6yo Final and Ruxton Hotshot was 12th overall and 6th British Bred in the 7yo Final. Athena Ruxton jumped clear and 4 for 6th and Blaencwm Jester a very unlucky 4 faults for 10th in the British bred 6yo Final!

Next stop Scope...........See you all there!

May

Well lots to tell  - Firstly the Equine Pathway training has been tough at times but really helpful and my position and seat have improved - just hope I don't slide backwards too much during the summer! Horsewise pleased with them all. Jumped at my 1st International Show for 10 yrs at  CSi ** Barbizon  and 3 out of the 4 were placed. Hotshot and Aim High were the stars which is lovely as they're homebred out of our Irish mare Spot On. Coming back I managed to fit in The Welsh Masters and Hand EC.. The 6yos jumped amazingly well, Hotshot developed a cough so although he qualified for the championship I didn't want to risk him and Aim High has grown up out in France (she is now a grade B)  jumping super double clears in 1.35m classes.

June and July are going to be busy......I have several horses qualified for the newcomer and foxhunter 2nd rounds but as these are no longer novice classes I'll only put them in if they're ready ..... Hotshot will definitely have a go at the 7 & 8 s and am hoping to step Ruxton Aim High up to 1.40m. As preparation for the Royal International I'm coming down for the Hickstead Derby - it's been a few years since I was there so fingers crossed the horses go well. Finally the Ruxton Stud's young stallion is 4 this year and will be making his BS debut. I can't wait  - he has been out for a play already and shows a great attitude....... we have 4 foals by him this year and they have all inherited his good looks. Exciting times!

January

Happy New Year to everyone! What a December! I'm afraid I went into survival mode, just about managing to keep the horses ticking over but am now hoping that's our cold weather over with.

So to catch up.... Hotshot jumped really well at HOYS although it was quite tight for a big boy.... we had a fence down behind but only as he was a tad excited so I couldn't be as soft with my hand as I would've liked...... still good practice for this year!

The winter season has started off quite well with 3 horses qualifying for the blue chip b&c Hotshot, Aim High and Lowmoor Darwin. Ulette just missed out on a winter grade c ticket but jumped fantastically and Charlie (Lowmoor Darwin) managed to qualify for blue chip and the royal international before upgrading to grade A - good boy!

Two other bits of news is that I am now on the top 200 riders ranking list at 168 thanks to Charlie and I have 3 horses on the Equine Pathway - Blaencwm Jester is on for 2011 and Hotshot and Athena Ruxton (both homebred by Ruxton Stud) are both on the mentoring list with a view to being put on in 2012........ I am so excited about this as I get access to monthly traing sessions with Commandant John Ledingham and Corinne Bracken. So far I have been twice and can already feel an improvement in my position and the horses.

September

The combine harvesters are out and Scope is over............. its coming to the end of Summer (sigh). All the horses have been continuing to jump really well. It's lovely to see how the young ones develop and improve. A big aim was the young horse championships at Addington. In the end I didn't take Aim High as I was really not sure that the grass arena would be up to standard - unfortunately I was right. The poor 6 yos had the worst of it, it was not nice to see so many throw the towel in half way round because they couldn't keep their footing - I truly hope they do something different next year... So Hotshot was the best just about managing to stay upright on the 1st day he came 8th in the British bred final which was 1.45m........The 2 5yos Blaencwm Jester and Art d'usance also qualified for their finals and although they both made a couple of mistakes was extremely pleased as it was 1.35m.

Onto Scope again the 5yos qualified for the final with Harry having a clean sheet to this point however he got a bit too excited so had an early rail. Jester was a little star and jumped double clear then an an unlucky fence in the final (where they were now 1.40m!) to finish 7th in a very strong class. Ruxton Aim High came 11th in the Grade C Championship, Lowmoor Darwin finished 9th in the Grade B Championship and Ruxton Hotshot jumped double clear in the 2 preliminary rounds and the clear in the first round of the final to qualify for Horse of the Year Show!!

Back at home its now time to get all the double clears in for next year. Hotshot and Ulette have their foxhunter tickets but then found out that Ulette has £7 left in newcomers......so far have managed 2 and still have £7! .... Art D'usance, Blaencwm Jester and Athena Ruxton all have 2 apiece for newcomers and Jester and Art both getting their 1st Fox. After that some will get a well deserved holiday :)

Eventing wise Art d'usance jumped a double clear in his 1st BE100 and Ciggi has stayed very consistent to come 9th (best so far) at Sapey with another double clear.

July

Its now the middle of July and we're half way through the summer season so I have finally found some time to update the news! So far....

Charlie has now broken into 1.40ms  with some brilliant jumping up at Weston Lawns, He also jumped 1.70m to finish =1st at the Three Counties  2 Fence Challenge.

The youngsters have been holding their own in the 2nd rounds which seem to get bigger every year! Hotshot has been placed twice in the Newcomer 2nd Rounds and Aim High has placed in the Foxhunter 2nd Round. Blaencwm Jester just missed out on qualifying for the Discovery Championship with 2nd in the Regional Final and Art D'usance 6th. Hotshot jumped treble clear (so qualifies!) in the National 6yo Championship Qualifer. Hotshot and Aim High qualfied for the Irish 6 & 7 yo Championships.

Finally went up to Weston Lawns to jump in 3 of the Age Championships. With 1st prizes of £1,000 they were tough to jump and we had very good horses to compete against. Both Art d'Usance and Blaencwm Jester got into the 5yo jump off which with 21 in it got stupidly fast . Jester had a desperately unlucky rail and Harry went clear again to finish 7th. Hotshot was his normal consistent self and was 1 of only 6 clears in the 6yo championship. Decided to go for it..... did all the turns jumped fantastically, galloped to the final oxer and rubbed it - did the time but sadly 4 faults - Rubbish!! Finally Aim High jumped her 1st 1.35m track so pleased as punch that she jumped a super clean 1st round ... with 8 through and only 3 prizes we were out paced by the more experienced 7yos and came 7th.

The eventing has also been going well with Harry (Art D'Usance) going double clear in his 1st BE event. Ciggi keeps improving and got his 1st placing at Glanusk with a double clear! 

From a coaching point of view I have been helping a range of riders - from pony club/riding club up to professional riders both sj and eventing and I love hearing how they get on......... they have been getting some good results recently - keep it up guys! ;)

Cor blimey it's been busy....and its not over yet!

April

Just a quick one as we're now into full swing of the summer season! Well I had a great Blue Chip (the Winter National Championships); Ruxton Aim High was placed in every class she entered including a 12th in the Performance Championship and 9th in the 1.25m Championship, Hotshot  (her younger brother) came 8th in the Power Championship and Lowmoor Darwin was 10th in the B &C Championship! Very pleased with all of them - just need to go faster!

The outdoor season has kicked off - the main aims for me being the 2nd rounds and age classes. There are so many qualifiers - it all gets a little overwhelming...... but so far Aim High, Hotshot and Art D'usance have qualified for Weston Lawns age championships. Art D'usance and Blaencwm Jester are aiming for the Discovery regionals, Hotshot, Doro, Nibeley Bits and Pieces for the Newcomer 2nd Rounds and Aim High is going for the Foxhunter 2nd rounds. Ulette is settling in really well and we won our 1st class - a 1.15m open...just need a couple more double clears to qualify for newcomers...so fingers crossed! Finally Lowmoor Darwin (star of the yard!) is going really well and now jumping double clears at 1.35m

March

The horses have all been going well. Poor Van der Graaf (fizz) came down with a schirrous cord infection and had to have a operation. He's come through it well and is now back in work although we're not sure whether he'll jump at Blue Chip.

I have 5 horses qualified for the Blue Chip Champs with Hotshot, Aim High, Doro and Lowmoor Darwin all getting a mention in the horse and hound. The young ones are also going well with double clears in discovery and Art d'Usance already qualifying for Scope in the Adventurer Championship. There has been a little change around in horses. Nibeley Bits and Pieces has gone home to see his girlfriends (!) but I have a new one in - a lovely chestnut mare by Heartbreaker called Ulette - the aim is for newcomer second rounds but she only arrived this week so we'll have to see............

December

Merry Christmas everyone!!

The winter season has been going well so far..although the weather has caused a few problems! Aim High has qualified for the 1.25 blue chip, Nibeley Bits and Pieces has now got his newcomer double clears for next year and has also qualified for the Bath and West Championship and the 1.15 amateur 2nd Round. Frustratingly he and Lowmoor Darwin were unable to jump at Hartpury Spectacular (one had pus in the foot and one caught a cold) so the young horses had to step up instead. They all jumped super with both Aim High (4th) and Hotshot (3rd) gaining places in the Bronze Tour. It was a lovely show, great atmosphere and brilliant experience for them. Will put some pics up when they come on line.

October

October has been a very varied and exciting month! Lowmoor Darwin started by finishing 2nd at HOYS 2009 in the National Amateur Championships. Rachel passed her British Riding Clubs Stage 3 Riding exam and also her 1 and 2 Stable management exams - well done Rachel! I finished off the eventing season with a win in the BE90 at Mount Ballan including a Best Dressage rosette! This was particularly nice as the horse has come back from a kissing spines operation and last competed BE in 2005. The owner is now going to take him on for the 2010 season......I have a new bunch of 4yos to get going so am going to have a very busy winter. Finally Ruxton Van der Graaf has kicked off the Blue Chip Season by qualifying for the Star Championship.

September

 We are now into Autumn ..sunny days and cold nights! Its been a great year so far and all set to get better still! The young horses have been going very well with all of them qualifying for the Young Horse Championships at Weston Lawns. Ruxton Hotshot and Aim High have qualified for the 2nd rounds already and Hotshot won at Scope and was one of only two British Bred horses in the 5yo National Final. Art D'Usance impressed the Burghley Young Event Horse Judges with several top 10 placings and was beautifully behaved. He was even marked down by one judge for "jumping too much like a showjumper" .... ah well you can take the girl out of showjumping but you can't....... lol. Finally Lowmoor Darwin has qualified for Horse of the Year Show...so wish me luck......

May

The summer season has begun .... and is already proving to be a busy one! I have had a bit of a change around  and have some exciting new horses to jump  - a couple of 4yos and a lovely coloured stallion!

I have passed the 1st part of my UKCC Level 3 exam - yay! Parts 2 and 3 to go.

I am looking forward to the second rounds.... and hoping to gain some ranking points as Ruxton Pascha  has now upgraded to B.