... A pretty boastful name for a blog I must say, but it is true - we have all been grinning because our little homebred Ricky has come away with two wins from three events at BE100 level! Which obviously wouldn’t be a big deal unless it was the first time you had won anything in the UK hahaha.
Since we last talked (10th July-ish) we have already been to 4 different events and we are starting to feel like old hands at it already (yeish that is a lot to fit into one blog!)
Sidenote 41: Now that we have started doing post-event videos, I was unsure what to write about or how to make these different - I’ve opted to try and capture the highlights and the general feel from the events – if you want all the details and results feel free to have a look at the relevant videos from the season so far.
You can find them here; www.facebook.com/watch/samanthalissington/587896238753416/
11th and 12th July Barbury – First one out the way
We had a great first run at Barbury with all the horses, Zazu and Vitali (owned by Alex Giannamore) pulled some wicked scores out the bag in the dressage, which gave us a real boost having worked pretty hard on our flatwork over lockdown so that I can keep up with these lovely horses!
We were blessed with some lovely UK sun for the first event back which was a real treat, and the social distancing management was excellent – we didn’t have to be in contact with a single other person!
It wasn’t all plain sailing though! I thought I had been so organised, buying new ink, and printing my back numbers a couple of days ahead of time (in accordance with the new rules to ensure social distancing). But who would have thought that you actually need two not one set of back numbers (front and back!)
Panic emails on the day and flying felt pens later - I actually did a pretty good job of making Cabbage’s look like a half-decent job, before her lovely owners (Izzie and Lucy Miners) turned up with the real deal.
Ricky won the dressage in her BE100 section and jumped double clear to take home our first ever UK win, so nice to send the news home to Mum and Dad who bred her, and to Sharon Honiss who made the jump into event horse ownership for the first time when she “bought a leg” earlier this year!
17th and 20th July Aston Le Walls – The new normal
By Aston Team Lissington was operating like clockwork, due to all the balloting being done we didn’t get as many horses in as we would have liked, so Wally the Whitaker only had to ferry four horses back and forth over two days that week (we were hoping for 6+ from memory).
Sidenote: Prior to our clockwork operations we may-or-may-not-have forgotten a dressage girth at the previous Aston Le Walls practice event!
Again ponies were all respectable and picked up minor placings. Ricky’s test was ruined by some coughing – after her operation she now needs soaked hay to reduce dust intake, but we didn’t think about travelling with the other horses hay (not soaked) which made her cough. That was good learning for us and she still got a 29 (and finished 5th I later found out) which made for a nice inexpensive learning on our side.
31st July Dauntsey Park – Hot hot hot!
Georgie had just been complaining about the UK summer (or lack-of, I did tell her that her expectations were too high ;)) when BAM, Friday the 31st of July arrived! 31 degrees meant that there were approximately 0 people in riding jackets by 9.30am – who would have thought!
It was a consistent day with all 3 horses jumping double clear in the Novice class, and cabbage taking home a 5th placing which was great.
Kiara and I cooled off in the stream for about half an hour afterwards which was just the best thing ever. We also all bought double ice blocks for the way home which was a great way to finish the day!
2nd August Cholmondeley Castle (pronounced “Chumly” apparently.. obviously) – The commitment test
It was by far the earliest alarm I have ever set to go to a horse event – 1.50am… By 3.00am we had 4 horses loaded and driving out the gate By 7.00am we had arrived and I was on my bike to check out the xc course By 8.00am I was on the first horse and By 12.00pm we had 3 horses complete dressage, all with double clear show jumping and cross country finishing in 1st, 4th and 6th! By 7.30pm we were home and hosed.
We all had a great time, spirits were high and the red-bull-fuelled grooms were on form.
Moreton has just been and gone, but that will have to wait for another blog!
This week we are heading back to Aston Le Walls (13/14th Aug), this will also be a fun event, all going well Chichi will be doing his first Intermediate run (owned by Alex Giannamore), and Jonnie his first Novice (Owned by Iona Kininmonth). Also – Sooty (owned by Pip Mccarroll and I) will do his first outing for the season!!!
For those of you that want to do some stalking, you can find the majority of the scores for events here; www.eventingscores.co.uk
And the full list for upcoming BE events is here; www.britisheventing.com/compete/fixtures-and-results
Until next time, Sam