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Competing in the Heat!
It has been so hot the last few weeks that keeping my horses comfortable and happy has been paramount.
I went show jumping at Port Royal with Snowy, he jumped a lovely clear round in the 1.20m class, but it was so hot that I decided to save him for another day and not wait around for the jump-off. Whilst it is good for horses to get used to competing in different weather conditions and all types of ground, if they are going well, and it is not an important competition it is best not to overdo things and leave on a good note.
I had a lot of horses waiting to be ridden at home so I came home early to carry on schooling and getting the yard done.
The Sunday just gone, I headed to Aske Hall with Snowy to compete in the Open Intermediate class. We got 35.9 in the dressage and were clear across country, however we incurred time penalties and then had a fence down in the show jumping which put us just out of the placings. He went very nicely for me and coped extremely well again in the hot weather.
Following his post Bramham holiday, Sultan is back in work. He has appreciated his little break and is ready for his next adventure. I haven’t decided where we will head next, but watch this space to keep up to date! The aim is to go to Osberton 2** at the end of the year.
Zeus is going well still and appears to be settling in and has also stopped trashing his stable which is a relief. Some horses take time to settle and it is very rewarding to see him relaxing and enjoying his surroundings.
Data is busy learning his half pass ready for the Riding Club Elementary team dressage competition in a few weeks.
On a non horsey-note I had a fabulous time in London last Tuesday as we were invited to a charity dinner in the Long Room at Lords Cricket Ground, a room steeped in sporting history. The event was in aid of Children in the Phillipines, to get them off the streets and give them an education. It was a very worthwhile cause and a lovely day.
Well that’s it from me until next week!
Harriet
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An Emotional Bramham
Well Bramham was an eventful week, I took my little chestnut horse, Sultao De Valada (Sultan to his friends!) to compete and Snowy came along 
partly to keep Sultan company and mainly to keep him working as five days off would make him very naughty!
The action began on Thursday. In the afternoon, we had a briefing where the ground jury introduced themselves to us, explained who they were and where to find them if we needed them. Then we were free to walk the cross country course – my first of three course walks!
Later that afternoon, the trot up got underway. They were held in front of Bramham House with a lot of spectators. The trot up is always a bit of a fashion show for the riders too! I wore white jeans and a t-shirt with a smart black jacket over the top with some nice posh shoes that thankfully I was able to run in.
On Friday I was last to do my dressage test. We managed a respectable 59 penalties and were lying in 12th place in the under 25’s section.
Saturday dawned and being drawn last to go, I was able to walk the course again with my trainer and also go and watch some of the other competitors in action to see what the course was riding like.
There were quite a few difficult questions which were causing problems, and the water was a real toughie. It was good to get an idea beforehand so I knew where to aim! Course designer Ian Stark brought his many years of experience to Bramham and really beefed up the course bringing in some old fashioned rider frightener type fences.
In the end, I had two run outs on the cross country course and we finished with 40 jumping penalties and 32 time penalties, which left us in 24th place after the cross country.
On the Sunday, we had a few fences down in the show jumping and remained in 24th place, completing our first CCI***.
It was disappointing not to have gone clear on the cross country but it was excellent experience for both myself and Sultan – we will be back!
I will be sitting down this week to plan my next lot of competitions, and also hope to take out new horse, Data, to compete very soon.
I am also visiting my sponsor, EquestrianClearance.com at their head office to catch up with the gang and also edit some of the ‘how to’ clips we are planning to put on You Tube – they are small practical guides giving advice on flatwork, jumping and stable management.
I will also be spending some of my sponsorship money on rugs and a few other bits and pieces – there are so many great bargains to be had!
The weather seems to have gone a bit typical of the English Summer! My holiday to South Africa in May seems a long time ago now – as you can see from the picture whilst I was there, I was able to practice my stickability on a banana boat!
Bye for now!
Harriet
Read MoreBramham Bound!
Preparing for Bramham has taken much of my time over the last few weeks, as I have been busy competing as well as having training sessions with Christopher Bartle over in Harrogate at the Yorkshire Riding Centre.
I took Sultan and Snowy to Christopher’s yard to practice the Bramham dressage test, we had a great lesson and both horses went really well. We will have another training session again next week.
In the last few weeks, I have competed at Aston Le Walls and Withington Manor with Sultan and Snowy. At Withington Manor, I was placed third and fourth after the dressage.
I was delighted to go clear on both in cross-country, but didn’t push either of them too much so incurred time penalties on the cross-country, putting us just out of the placings.
Next week I will be at Brigstock to give Sultan a final run before Bramham.
Snowy will not run at Bramham but I will take him with the possibility of doing a show jumping class on the Saturday as well as a bit of posing – which is what he loves doing!
At Bramham, I am drawn last for dressage and cross-country on the Friday and Saturday – with a bit of luck I will be last to jump in the show jumping on Sunday – as this will mean I am in the lead!
In between all of my competitions and preparation, I have been busy teaching, have had a horse in to be sold, and some exiting news – I have a new horse in to compete!
Owned by Judy Bettinson, Data as he is known on the yard is a really lovely horse, I am hoping to get out competing with him when he is ready. Watch this space to see his progress!
Until next time – best wishes Harriet.
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XC Schooling at Somerford Park
YEEEEE HAAAAAAAAA!!! Finally after a long winter of jumping nothing but coloured fences we were able to get the advanced horses out xc schooling! I’m not sure who was more excited them or me!! Both horses felt absolutely fantastic and really enjoyed themselves. I think the pictures say it all really!
After having a good trot and a canter round to warm up I started to jump some smaller more
straightforward fences like logs, rails, tables, houses etc. After that I jumped some slightly bigger fences
with ditches in front and started to incorporate some steps and drops, as well as some skinnies and corners.
From there I moved on to the coffin type fences, at Somerford you are very spoilt as there are five different coffins to choose from. Some with skinny single barrels on each side of the ditch, some with steep slopes down into the ditch and some with more inviting logs on either side. I did each one once or twice so that I can go to my fisrt event knowing that I practised everything I possibly could.!
Lastly I moved on to the water. Because they hadn’t been through a water jumped for a few months I just let them walk through first to ‘get their feet wet’.
It would be unfair to ask them to jump straight into water, even though they are both experinced horses. Agian I gradually built up the difficulty, starting by jumping down a little step, 
working my way up to a small bounce into water. I always made sure that I jumped something on the way out though as I think it trains them to always ‘look’ for a fence coming out of the water.
Both Sultan and Snowy felt on top form and I was really pleased with them!
After warming down, they were walked back to the lorry where Charlotte was waiting to wash them down and get them ready to travel home.
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Team GB take double bronze in Hungary!
The team won team bronze at the European CIC** Championships at Nagykanizsa in Hungary missing gold by less than two penalties. The team excelled in the dressage phases and were awarded three nines for their performance by president of the ground jury Peter Wagner.
The cross country course was a true championship track and only three riders completed inside the time. It proved easy for Harriet and snowy though as they came 
home clear, having taken all the direct routes.
“Snowy gave me an amazing feeling and through the final water he was just amazing!” said Harriet.
Harriet and Snowy polished off their team debut with an immaculate clear round in the showjumping, one 
of only five combinations to jump double clear.
“Snowy jumped his socks off in the show jumping, and to be coming home with a medal is a dream come true.”
Peter Buist, Chef de Mission to the British team said: “It was a fantastic result; the whole team out-performed themselves in every phase.”