Well, it was a bit of a roller-coaster of a week to say the least!
The Young Rider 2*'s didn't trot up until Thursday afternoon so we arrived on Thursday morning. This worked out quite well because I had a biology field trip on the Tuesday and Wednesday that I had to attend because we did our A level assessed practicals when we were there!
The trot up passed without any issues but we discovered that somehow I had managed to bring the wrong dressage saddle! Opps! Thankfully by the combined efforts of Tor and the father of a girl in a JRN team I managed to get the correct one in time for my dressage on friday.

The dressage was a bit of a disappointment, although Jack didn't do anything wrong he was very tense and understandably at this level we got severely marked down for it. We ended up with a score of 63.9% so annoyingly had he been more relaxed like he was at Gatcombe we would have got a mark in the 50's which was what I had been aiming for!

I was very nervous on Cross Country morning because there were quite a few fences on the course that I felt didn't suit Jack particularly well and were similar to where we had issues at Gatcombe 2* two weeks previously. The course was also very very big, however I needn't have worried as he gave me an absolutely fabulous round! Although he warmed up like a donkey he popped fence one and two very nicely, galloped onto 3ab, a curving four strides between two box fences. He actually slipped on the turn between the two fences but still managed to get the four strides! Fence 4 was a big drop log which I was quite concerned about, but I needn't have been, he didn't even hesitate and flew it brilliantly. Down the slope and then a right turn to a skinny at 5 which he jumped really well. Fence 7 was a straight forwards house which we took in our stride. Fence 8 and 7ab consisted of 3 logs on a curve with 5 strides between the first two and 3 strides between the second and the third skinny element. Jack was foot perfect through here and we galloped quickly onto the coffin, I got him back in plenty of time and then when I saw my shot in drove him to the fence very positively because I was concerned about him stopping. I think I may have slightly over done it because he then got a bit of a surprise when he saw the ditch and he put down on the rail and slid over the first element. However we recovered well and jumped parts b & c really nicely! Fence 10 was a lovely big parallel which jumped really well and then it was onto the first of the water complexes. This consisted of just one element - a very large and dark log with a big drop into a pond. I thought he would be very spooky of it but he jumped it absolutely brilliantly and gave me a wonderful feeling! The second water had a skinny roll top, then four strides to a log drop into the water, then a forwards 3 out of the water up a step and then one stride to another skinny. Although Jack was very spooky and hesitant over the drop in we just about made the 3 strides and jumped out over the skinny really nicely. The next two fences were very simple and he popped them really nicely. Fence 16 was a very narrow corner off a tricky turn and I did take the flag down with my foot but that doesn't matter. Seventeen was a big hay rack a few strides after the corner which Jack jumped very well, and then it was a gallop up a steep hill to a very big square box at 18. We got a brilliant shot to that and jumped it really nicely. Next up was the obelisk fence - a big skinny brush corner to a small step down and then three strides to another big skinny brush corner. We added a stride after the step down to the 2nd corner but popped through sweetly enough! Fence 20 was a big wide wagon and then 21, 22 was a narrow wall to a very big brush pimple fence. This rode brilliantly and the Young Rider chairman got an awesome photo of us over it! Kicked on down to a very large log pile which Jack popped really well, and then over a big ditch brush palisade. He was a little spooky but jumped it without any problems. Kicked on and galloped on up the hill towards the main arena, got a good shot over a simple fence at 25 and then we flew into the main arena to jump the last combination on the course. He gave me an amazing feeling over the teddy bear table at 26 and then we turned back on ourselves to jump the house to skinny wagon at 27ab. We stood off the house but got a lovely three strides to part b. Kicked on, flew the last fence and finished 9 seconds inside the time! What a brilliant horse! Absolutely thrilled with him!!

Overnight I was lying in 17th place, so I was confident that with a decent SJ we would be able to move up into the top 15. Unfortunately this wasn't meant to be, Jack wasn't quite right on Sunday morning and was held in the trot up and then consequently withdrawn before the Show Jumping. Such a gutting and upsetting end to what had been such a good experience.

Well after Jack's recent form I went to Gatcombe with high expectations and I was very confident that if all went to plan we could pull off a very good result. Either a double clear, or possibly just a fence in the show jumping. Well I suppose this confidence was our downfall - As it turned out nothing went quite to plan!!!

The Dressage was on Saturday and he came out feeling very well and warmed up really nicely. We went over for our test and after many laps of the arena finally went in. The test had a few tense moments in the walk and pirouettes, but other than that I was thrilled with how he went. It was unbelievably better than our test at Hartpury, and so I was hoping for a good mark in the 50's - As was my trainer and Jack's previous riders. Unfortunately the judging was quite varied and quite harsh and they gave Jack a mark that none of us thought was very fair - 64.7 (Just 2 points better than Hartpury!) This was very disappointing, but he went well and worse things have happened!!!

The following day was the show jumping and cross country. The SJ was a fairly up to height track (it was certainly very wide) however it was riding really well and not causing many problems so I was confident for that clear! He warmed up really well but was quite strong and heady due to being sat in the lorry all day as we were on at 4pm but were there for our trot up at 11am!! We went into the ring and got a fabulous jump over fence one, but then got a little deep to the planks at fence two and they came down which was a great shame. He then jumped 3, 4, 5 and 6 very well. Seven was the triple bar with 5 strides to an upright at fence 8. Unfortunately we swung round the corner on a bit of a wing and a prayer and ended up on a ''misser'' to the triple bar and landed on the back rail. Fences 8, 9, 10 and 11 then jumped really well. So we finished with a gutting 8 faults, something I had not been expecting and was very disappointed with. This was also our worst BE result in the show jumping this season.

Finally was the XC, after the disappointment in the show jumping I was determined to go out there and show everyone how it should be done. We got really nice strides over fences 1 & 2 and flew on down to a log at 3. We had a slightly odd jump over this (I think he misjudged the post and rails the other side of the jump as part of the fence!) Fence four/five was quite a test considering how early on in the course it was - Four was a log on top of a bank, you then went down the bank and curved right to a big corner. I decided to go direct as it was very similar to a fence we did at Aston Le Walls in May and indeed he did it brilliantly. Six and seven were fences in the hedge and then 8 was a big corner which he did well. 9 and 10 were straightforward fences and then 11 was a drop into the wood, curving three strides to a skinny log which jumped very nicely. Fence 12 wasn't very nice, it consisted of an uphill rail, then one stride down a step and then three insanely steep strides up a bank to another upright. We jumped it fine but a little messy over the 3rd element. Next up was a big bounce, followed by a wall and then a 90 degree turn to a hedge. We jumped this really well and he gave me a great feeling. Unfortunately it was after this that it went slightly wrong. There was a drop log in the wood where you couldn't see the landing, then down a slope to a drop wall, then you veered left and then had a sharp right handed turn to a skinny log on a lip where again you couldn't see the landing before you went down into the dip and up out over a skinny log. Jack was very suspicious over the first drop log and nearly stopped but he jumped the wall very well. I then failed to pick up on the fact that he was feeling un-confident about these drop logs where the landing falls away and I must have dropped him slightly just before the skinny log - He stopped dead. Came round the second time and did it and the following brush without much problem. After this point I stopped kicking as we were way down the order so when we finished we had a lot of time faults. After this incident came the water - a duck in and then a turn to a rail which he flew without any hesitation and then cantered on to an angled drop palisade to a skinny log. The second last fence was a huge trakhener style fence and then the last was a skinny tree branch. Both of which he jumped very well. So all in all, a stupid little error that cost us a top 50% finish and blotched both his and my record. Gutted!

Anyway, onwards and upwards and all that! Hopefully we have both learnt from the mistakes made - it can't always go right unfortunately and I think it has given me a much need kick up the backside to not be complacent and to ride every fence. So hopefully our next outing at Weston CCIYR** will be much more successful!

Sad news surrounds Hartpury Horse trials for me. I was supposed to be doing Hartpury on Belvedere and for about two weeks up to the event I had been staying with Belv at Tor's in order to get lots of training to ensure a good run. However on the Tuesday of Hartpury week Belv was diagnosed with a hock injury and will be off for the rest of the season. Not only did this mean that Hartpury was out of the question, but it also rules him out of the JRN National Championships at Weston Park. On Wednesday morning it was decided that I would run Jack at Hartpury in Belv's place.

So on Wednesday afternoon Jack was presented for the first trot up which he passed fine, even if he did spy a photographer, stop in his tracks and leap sideways!! 
Unfortunately because I had been away at Tor's with Belv I literally hadn't ridden Jack since Wilton OI two weeks previously and he had only been lightly hacked by a groom. This meant that our Dressage was not very up-together and we didn't do a very good test and got 66.2 which left us right down the order.

The Cross Country course at Hartpury was a very nice course and fairly big, however it was very straight forwards with only a few testing combinations. The main things to think about were fence 12ab which was a steep downhill combination of a log, then 5 slightly curving strides to a very skinny tripple brush, and also right at the end of the course were two houses one stride apart on a very acute angle and then a corner concealed just after a turn through a hedge. Jack sailed round the track and gave me a brilliant ride true to form. Didn't put a foot wrong and sailed inside the time. He finished well and sound and passed the trot up on Sunday morning without incident.

Jack is such a good Show Jumper so I wasn't overly concerned about the Jumping, but it was quite a long, up-to-height and VERY square track so it was still enough of a question. It caused carnage for the first 20-30 competitors with three people managing to fall off! However Jack did an absolutely class round and was his normal amazing genuine, pingy self! We almost had a clear round but I made a slight error to the last fence and the planks came down. Guttingly the four faults cost us a top 50 finish and a point. However I had a great time and am really pleased with how Jack went.....if we forget the Dressage that is!!! We climbed from 90 something after the Dressage, to 61st after the XC and finally to 54th after the SJ!!!

The next stop with Jack is Gatcombe CIC** and then seeing as Belv will no longer be going to Weston, I will take Jack instead and do the CCIYR**! Very exciting!!
I had some more good news this week too - I did my driving theory test on Wednesday and passed and then I got my AS results today.....four A's!!!! Smiles all round!

Well the dressage had the potential to be quite nice, but unfortunately I forgot to halt on the first centre line and had to re-start which made Jack very tense and upset for the rest of the test, we ended up with 42 which wasn't what I had aimed for!

However, the Show Jumping was much more successful and even though it was very big and Jack hadn't Show Jumped for weeks and I hadn't jumped him on grass since Hambleden, he flew round and didn't touch a pole. What a dudey horse he is! Unfortunately we had a minor miss-understanding over one of our lines to an upright and ground to a halt so picked up a very silly 4 faults and one time penalty. Very annoying as they cost us getting two points for a double clear!

I have to confess I wasn't all that worried about the cross country. After Glanusk it seemed quite tame and straight-forwards. Big in places, yes, but not too technical. In true Jack style he flew round and gave me a fantastic ride apart from the first water where he was very spooky and we clambered in and out over the boat in a very unorthodox style! I have also begun to trust him more and consequently we did a very speedy round just picking up 4.8 time faults. Unfortunately because it was a hotly contested OI section we finished right down the order, but in most other Intermediate section we would have been placed. 
We now head to the CIC** at Gatcombe, and if the ground isn't too hard the CIC** at South of England as well.

Wow, what a week! I had both horses at Glanusk from Wednesday last week until very late on Sunday evening. Jack was doing the Junior National Championships CCI* class and Belvedere was doing his first event since Weston CCIJ* in October, a JRN class.

The full report of the week can be seen here (click for link), but in short I had a brilliant, but quite emotional and trying time! Jack did a fair dressage test but got a disappointing mark of 59.2, which equates to 39.5 in British Eventing terms. Pictures are below (click to enlarge).

He then proceeded to do a fantastic XC round clear inside the time, doing all the direct routes over an incredibly big and technical track. However, later that day he became lame and although he was much better the following day, he was sent to the hold box during the trot up and I withdrew him from there. He had a slight sore point on his tendon, and although there was no heat or swelling there was no way I was going to run him and risk breaking him. So that was very gutting, but it doesn't take away how good he was on the cross country. Below are some pictures of him on the XC and of the course.

Finally, on Sunday it was belv's turn to party. The dressage was very dissapointing, he got slightly freaked out by the competition atmosphere and the test was below par. We ended up with 40.0 - not quite what the last 6months of hard work has been aiming for. Anyway he redeemed himself by jumping well in the SJ and just rolling at unlucky pole. As expected he romped around the XC and just had 5.2 time penalties because he is not very fit. We ended up 8th so it was nice to get a rosette! 

Below are some pictures of him earlier on in the week.