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!