Well, thats it, the festive season is over for another year, so now its down to business, in just two months we will be out eventing again, aarrgghh!  So much to do before then! Getting back in shape, losing the winter fat, fittening work and generally trying to resemble an eventer, and never mind the horses, that's just me.  All the boys are back in now, Brooke (707), and Tigga (Tickeridge) have just had shoes put on and are beginning their walk work, the real babies, Sid (Pusiden), Bobby (Dyke Road) and Lulu (Lite My Fire) have been worked on throughout the winter months and are coming along nicely and Smurf (Captain Christy) also remained working as he had much of last year off and was rather bored of taking it easy.

So now we are just starting to really get going with jumping and dressage, with regular trips to Royal Leisure and BSJA at home on Dec 27th, a day of 4-fault-itus for me, -it must have been those extra few pounds I put on eating all that turkey, but on the whole all the ponies went well.

We are saying a sad goodbye this week to Coco De Cara, who is moving to pastures new, it was felt by all that his heart was not in the game at the higher level, so he is going to our physiotherapist Cathrine Fowdrey to compete at pre-novice and give her some valuable experience in the dressage arena, as this is where he really shines, so I wish her the very best of luck and as they live very locally we will be able to keep in touch with their progress.

Hi, hope you are all enjoying the snow, although it does make life a litle awkward when trying to ride, its times llike this when I think how lucky I am that we have the indoor school, - it makes my holiday seem but a dim and distant memory, even my suntan is fading fast. We have been out to a couple of parties recently, Bobby (Dyke Road) had his first  couple of outings at Royal Leisure Centre and was a little superstar, taking everything in his stride and has already notched up two double clears in British Novice and one in his first Discovery, so a very pleasing start to his carreer.

Flynn (Coevers Diamond Clover) has also been going exceptionally well being placed in almost every class, and he is finally starting to be a little more polite and not trying to cart me around so much. After the ridiculous amount of rain we have had recently there have been plenty of large puddles for us to play with and Flynn seems none the worse after his swim at Pulborough, he is one that I am very excited about for next season, although he is actually for sale I would rather like to keep him.

Captain Christy, (Smurf) has quite been put to shame by the babies recently, all of them have been impeccably well behaved and grown up, taking everything new in their stride, Smurf however has taken nearly 3 weeks to accept that the christmas tree in our school is not an alien waiting to attack, and when I took him jumping for the first time he stopped at the first fence in a Discovery!!! Needless to say he did get his bottom smacked for that and he has been jumping ot of his skin ever since, I find it so hard to be too cross with him though as it is so nice to see him feeling so well after the past year.

We also have a new addition to the team, Lite My Fire (Lulu), is a 5yo, 16h chestnut mare, the only girl in a yard full of boys! She had thus far aquitted herself very well and although rather green and with a typical 'chestnut mare' degree of scattiness she seems to be very willing to learn and a neat careful jumper, so we shall see how things progress.

Our dressage has not been neglected either, with several unaffiliated competitions at home all have been progressing nicely, our only affiliated day saw Rico Star, a horse I ride occasionally for Jayne Bramwell, complete his 10th novice win in a row, he is unbeaten at this level, he will now be moved up to elementary in the new year, to see if he can continue his winning ways.

Our last major outing involved no horses whatsoever, it was our Christmas Party. A lovely evening where it was so nice to have almost all of our owners, liveries, staff, friends and family around and a chance to say a huge thank-you to everyone for all their hard work and support throughout the year, it really is a massive team effort to keep this show on the road and it would not be possible without you all.

So, to everyone have a very Merry Christmas and a Happy and Successful New Year, I will speak to you all in 2010. xx

Its been pretty quiet these past couple of weeks with no ‘proper’ events to go to, we have however had two outings, one to Burghley for the 4yo BYEH finals  and the second to Stoneleigh for the BD National Championships. Burghley was a fabulous day out, Tigga was beautifully well behaved, taking the busy atmosphere in his stride, he really loves showing off to an audience. His dressage mark of 27/35 compared well however one down in the showjumping phase was heavily penalized and only scored 19/40. The conformation judge simply didn’t like his type though and only gave him 7/15 meaning that we didn’t make it into the final 10. 

 Our next ‘party’ was the BD National Championships with Coco in the Elementary (Restricted) finals. He performed a really good test with his only blip being one rather muddled canter transition, which unfortunately cost us a placing, we scored 64.37% and finished 14^th, but with everyone between 8^th and 14^th finishing on 64% it was very close.

My biggest project over the quiet period has been backing our new youngster, Puiside.  A recent acquisition, purchased from Brian Lear, from whom we also found Tigga. ‘Sid’ is a 3yo bay gelding by Puissance out of a mare by Clover Hill, thus far he has been impeccably behaved, I actually sat on him for the first time just today. He will hopefully go to the BE Breeding Championships at Tweseldown next month for the in hand 3yo class and will then spend the winter playing in the field before beginning his career next year.

Well it’s a very short diary entry this week, but we have South of England to look forwards to next weekend, Archie will have another crack at BE100, Flynn will have his first shot at a Novice, as will Coco and Jif, whilst Brooke is in the OI and Fred is also attempting the step up to Intermediate. Speak to you all soon x

I feel like my feet haven't touched the floor in a week, to say we have been busy would be something of an understatement!! Firstly I will backtrack to last weekend when we took Tigga, Flynn and Archie to Burnham Beeches. Having already qualified (at Moreton Morrell) Tigga had to be HC in the Lycetts 4yo class but it was good experience for him to go out to another 'party', although he is the most chilled out 4yo I have ever known. His dressage sheet had one of the nicest comment I have ever received from a judge, "my biggest problem with this horse is that he is not mine", along with a score of 27.5. A careless moment showjumping added 4 penalties but nothing phased him across country and so we finished on 31.5. Archie (Rembrant III) had his 2^nd BE 90 event, and was much more grown up than his previous outing at Brightling, we managed a very reasonable 34 dressage mark followed by a double clear to finish 5^th. Flynn was a very naughty pony in his BE 100 dressage test, carting me most unceremoniously around the arena and at one point adding in the most enormous buck! Needless to say our score was pretty poor, but he did then redeem himself a little by jumping very well.

Monday had a nice early morning drive to Newmarket to collect Murphy from Rossdales veterinary hospital at Newmarket following the operation to reset his heart. All reports thus far seem promising but he is to stay on light duties for another month, before having anothercheck up, if all is still fine then we will be able to build up to full work so fingers crossed....

Ian and I were lucky enough to be given some tickets to go and watch an evening performance at the European Dressage and Showjumping Championships at Windsor on Thursday, we saw John Whitaker winning in his usual fine style but the highlight for me was the 6-bar competition, as the name suggests it is just 6 fences in a line, set 2 strides apart, and increasing in height down the line, each clear round proceeds to the next round in which the fences get higher. This went for the full five rounds, with the last fence an incredible 6'8"!! Guy Williams was the deserved winner after 5 beautifully ridden rounds, on a horse that has only been jumping Foxhunter classes. Nick Skelton was 2^nd, William Funnell was 3rd after wisely choosing not to jump his young horse in the final round. A lovely evening was then spoilt by sitting in a traffic jam on the M25 for an hour at 1am, grrrr....

Several weeks ago, Archie's owner, Fliss Gentle asked if I would be willing do give a demo of 'introducing a young horse to the principles of xc' as one of the evening entertainments at the 'Big Girls Camp' held at Plumpton College. Without really thinking about it I agreed, and so on Friday evening I headed down there. I can honestly say that I was petrified, training  my horses is something which I do every day but the prospect of having to explain it, and make sense to a crowd of people just turned me to jelly. Kerry Vineys' 4yo gelding Ferdi (Formidable Opposition), who has been at 'boot camp' with me for a couple of weeks was my 1^st ride, it was a genuine start for him as he has never seen anything like water trays or skinny fences before and he rose to the occasion beautifully, making just enough mistakes to show that he is actually a baby that hasn't been practicing but taking on the challenge and being wonderfully well behaved. Next in was nominated 'guinea pig' Marie, with her lovely big black horse Tom, who was an absolute gentleman, coming in absolutely straight to anything we put in font of him, allowing us to show approaches to skinnys, combinations, corners, bounces, etc. Last of all I had a bit of a play on Jif who benefitted from schooling over some very narrow fences after Hartpury, we ended up by jumping a keep left bollard that a student had 'found' on a night out!! Although when jumping the bigger fences I was having some real trouble with my 'Madonna microphone'! I hope everyone enjoyed their evening, any comments that anyone does have (good or bad) please email me at sam@sampenn.co.uk - feedback is always gratefully received.

Finally it was back to the weekend and our most local event at Firle Place. PQ kicked off the proceedings with a win in BE90 sec A, with a 30.5 and double clear, it was  a lovely way for me to end things with him, as now his owner Helen Carter is going to start competing him and I look forwards to seeing them out and about next season. Jo Carr and her team at Firle always make such an effort especially with the prizes, we won a lovely rug from Rainbow Equine (thanks Kerry) and a huge punnet of proper english strawberries donated by Countryside Caterers,- which were so yummy they were gone within 5 minutes! Tigga was again HC in the Lycetts 4yo class, he was the only one in his section to gain a sub 30 dressage mark (28.5) and jumped beautifully, rider error being to blambe for one down sj. If actually competitive we would have finished 2^nd. Archie made a step up to BE100 this time and although unplaced he was very good, 30.5 dressage is his best yet but 8 faults added sj was expensive, however he was lovely xc and nothing phased him, I really hope that soon we can find an owner for him as he will give someone a huge amount of fun. It seemed that luck was not on our side on Sunday morning, after his rather wild performance at Burnham Beeches, I decided to lunge Flynn before riding him, but in being a bit of an idiot on the lunge he managed to cut himself across his pastern rather nastily and so spent the day eating grass by the lorry. Coco also had a disappointing day, although a good dressage, 26 and 2 down sj which was actually not bad in his section he just didnt seem his usual sparkly self and picked up 2 stops at the stew pond, plus almost unseating me at the hay wagon. Fred and Jif saved the day however in the IN section, taking 5^th and 9^th respectively. Fred seems to be getting more sensible in his old age and has earned himself an attempt at intermediate at SofE next month.

Being a bank holiday weekend there was still one more day to go and so it was off to Highclere for the OI with Brooke at 5am Monday morning, picking up my friend Anna Gorringe, who was my helper for the day en route. I was a little disappointed with his dressage mark of 36.4 as he gave a lovely obedient test, with just a little anticipation before the canter, but he jumped a fantastic double clear well within the optimum time to finish 9^th.

Phew, well after all that we have a few easy days before its off to Burghley on Friday with Tigga for the BYEH Finals, I cant believe its September already!!

            Coco continued our run of success at the BD Southern Regional Finals at Oldencraig last weekend, taking the Elementary Restricted qualifier for the second year running, in a closely fraught class in which the top three were split by less than 1%. Coco’s test was perhaps not the most ‘expressive’ performance of the day, when compared with ‘proper’ dressage horses, the down-side of usually having to do our tests in a field with the excitement of cross country nearby, but it was very correct and balanced, earning us 67.47%. So now we just need to work on the sparkle before finals at Stoneleigh next month.

            On Tuesday we headed for Hartpury with Jif and Brooke. I always love this event as it is held on the college site which means fantastic facilities, hot showers, cafeteria, lovely stables, arenas to ride in, and... student bar!! With just two horses between Kym and I and no dressage until Friday it was a nice laid back few days, with just the small formality of the trot up to contend with. Every time I swear that next time I will wear sensible shoes, but no out come my 4 inch heels, Jif is so polite he allows me to just totter along, but Brooke could give Usain Bolt some stiff competition, at least it is entertaining for those watching!

            Jif’s dressage was rather disappointing, with a couple of silly mistakes and a generally unexciting test only earned us 61.1. Brooke however coped with the exciting atmosphere much better than I had expected and gained 52.8. Cross country day was also not one for us to write home about, with Jif being most unhelpful and managing to get eliminated at fence 12b the skinny arrowhead brush at the bottom of a steep hill. At least we got to know a bit more about him and now know what homework we need to do. Brooke was perhaps the most unlucky, a fantastic round was marred by a stupid stop going into the 2^nd water, after clipping the 1^st part quite hard he stumbled on landing and was simply unable to get his legs up and jump part b. The second attempt was fine and he still got home with just 3.2 time faults showing just how fast he can shift! With no 1* horse to have to get ready for an 8.30 am trot up we were able to enjoy ourselves at the Saturday night party and have Brooke ready for the much more sociable time of 11, followed by showjumping at 2.30. A big stiff track saw few clear rounds and the last two fences caught Brooke, the 2^nd element of the double of oxers and the final fence an upright over a water tray, into which I think he kicked some sand and spooked himself as it was the most awkward feeling jump ever!! Most importantly they are both home in one piece and will enjoy a few days well earned rest.

            The biggest (and worst) piece of news this week is the departure of Pie from our yard. It has been a heartbreaking decision for us to have to make but he has been sold to a family in Lincs and I wish them the very best of luck with him, he has been nothing but a pleasure to have been able to ride and has been part of our family here for over 8 years both as ‘mine’ and with his previous owner Lesley and we are all giong to miss him so very very much. I cant write any more as I’m going to start blubbing, bye bye P-Man, be good and thank you for soo much. X                                    

Hi Everyone. Well we havnt been doing very much eventing this month but that doesnt mean things have been quiet for us, with 2 days of showjumping at South of England, in which Pie managed a 5^th place in Thursdays 1.10m Open. Brooke jumped well in Fridays Foxhunter but had 4 faults in the jump off. Very exciting however was the arrival of our lovely new rugs and jackets from Rainbow Equine, now we just need for the weather to be cool enough to be able to wear them! Our only ‘proper’ outing this month has been to Great Tew with Coco and Murphy. Coco as always produced a great dressage, again stepping up to novice level which allows him a little more chance to ‘show off’. The showjumping however proved to be our downfall with 4 down, it seems that after hitting a fence he worries and runs flat over the next fence, usually hitting that too, before being able to re-compose himself with a short break, ie around a bend. The cross country was a huge step in the right direction though, with a super clear around what was most definitely the strongest test he has yet faced. Murphy I felt also went well in his dressage although his mark of 38 showed that the judge felt otherwise. Our showjumping is slowly coming together, although we still have very different ideas of what is comfortable, and we managed just 4 faults although it was not the prettiest round ever seen! The cross country was easy-peesey for him though and although quite slow as he is not yet fully fit he popped around everything with something very close to a smile on his face. Since his outing he has definitely perked up at home and when we went to do some canter work on the downs this week he was considerably more lively! 

            Our main ‘party’ this month has been our own Derby Show, held here at Golden Cross. Most of the ponies jumped at some point over the weekend, Tigga was first to go, contesting the first class each day, a 1m open. He jumped brilliant rounds on both days with one down in the jump off on day one and second place on day two. He is really starting to get the hang of the game, and is learning to wait a little rather than being ever keen to jump anything and everything as soon as possible! Murphy and I are getting a little more used to each other every time, or at least I’m learning not to interfere in his way of doing things, although his way of going is totally different to all my other rides, which are very forward-going, but Smurf never really feels as if he is going anywhere and will always add in extra strides if possible, he jumped reasonably well though, with 4 faults in the Newcomers on Saturday and also in the 1.05m Derby on the Sunday. Pie had the most success over the weekend, with 6^th in the 1.15 Members Cup on the Saturday, then 5^th equal in the 1.05 derby and 3^rd in the 1.15 Derby. Brooke jumped superbly in Saturday’s 1.15 Members Cup, for 4^th place but was very naughty in the Eventer’s Grand Prix on Sunday towards the end of a very fast round a refusal at the water jump scuppered our chances and dropped us down to finish 12^th. It’s such a fun class in which to take part and we will be back for another shot next year. Our thanks to Russell Stevenson for his sponsorship of this class which continues to grow each year.                                                                              

            Well next week we have a nice local trip to Eridge Park, and by all reports its going to be a hot one, so until then.... x

Well we have some high points and some low points to report this week, after a lovely sunny week spent at Houghton Hall in Norfolk. However prior to our trip there was a trip to Aston le Walls with Brooke for an intermediate run. His best intermediate dressage so far (34.6), followed by a double clear with no time penalties was good enough for 2^nd place.

Following this was our final ‘trial’ for the CIC2* team. This took the form of a practice run/display of the team dressage test at the Royal Windsor Horse Show.  For us Eventer’s who prefer our dressage to be performed in a quiet corner of a field at about 8am, before the spectators arrive or the loudspeakers start or anything exciting starts to happen, there was no more exciting atmosphere for our ponies to contend with, - carriages on a metal road, the fairground, and a hunt parade to name just a little of what was going on. Pie in particular found this all rather too much to cope with, especially once he heard the hunt horn blow! And best wishes to Jonathon Chapman, who has been a huge part of our training and suffered a very nasty fall at Aston le Walls. Unfortunately after this rather lively performance it was decided that we were not one of the most suitable candidates and we were not selected as part of the team to travel to Hungary. This was a very disappointing decision for us, however we have received a lot of training and made many new friends along the way, so best of luck to the guys who did make it.

              Tuesday saw us trekking up the M11 to Houghton Hall. With so many entries, it was necessary to begin the 1* trot up on the Tuesday, set right in front of the main house, a very grand start to the proceedings, and fortunately just a formality for Fletcher. Wednesday began early for us, with trot up for Pie who was the first to go in the 2*, this was swiftly followed by dressage for both. Fletch performed a lovely relaxed test for a score of 55.3. Pie’s test showed some good moments but was marred by some tension and received a mark of 61.              

             Thursday was a quiet day for the older boys and so it was Tigga’s turn to shine in the Dubarry Burghley Young Event Horse (4yo). It had been his first ‘away party’ and throughout Tuesday and Wednesday had been quite unsettled. However by Thursday noon when we came down to get the fella cleaned up, he had relaxed to the point where we found him fast asleep and snoring! He went on to perform beautifully, with both the highest dressage mark (33 out of 35), and the highest jumping mark (37 out of 40), plus 12 out of 15 for his conformation, leaving him at the top of the list going into the final phase. In our minds he was by far the best and showed himself off well, however the judge disagreed and placed him just 6^th out of 10. Fortunately for us,  the marks added up in our favor and we finished up 2^nd overall, qualifying for the final at Burghley in September.

Friday was Fletcher’s day for cross country. After a rather naughty moment in the practice arena, we set out on this beautiful course and had a lovely round, taking all the straight routes and finishing well inside the optimum time. Luckily his owner Ali just made it in time to watch after a rather fraught drive up from Sussex that morning. This put us in 5^th position overnight and therefore it was a real blow for all concerned when he was unable to Show Jump the following day due to a bruise in the foot. With no Show Jumping for Fletch, Saturday just involved cross country for Pie. As 2* ‘pathfinder’ I was a little concerned, although without cause as he also gave me a lovely ride, again taking all the direct routes, and finishing with just 5.6 time penalties, seeming very few although they proved expensive in the end. Sundays trot up fortunately was passed without hitch, after an early morning bath - the perils of a pony with more white patches than black! After having Show Jumped in heavy rain here for 2 consecutive years it was lovely to have a hot sunny day for a change, and a clear round finished the week of nicely. We finished well outside the money in 35^th but our first double clear in a CCI2* was a huge confidence boost after our disappointment earlier in the week.

Following Houghton Hall, Fletcher’s owner Ali Emery has made the decision to retire him from Eventing. As the horse who took me to my first novice, intermediate and 1* competitions he will always have a very special place in my heart and I will miss him a great deal. I would like to take this chance to say a huge thank you to Ali for allowing me to ride him for the past 3 years, he has taught me a huge amount and I wish him a long happy retirement in the hunting field.

            Next weekend is a nice local trip to Borde Hill, so until then ...

We have had a pretty busy time since my last diary installment, the weekend following South of England we saw us back at the same venue for the Ardingly Riding Club ODE, with the 4yo Tickeridge in the intro section. A respectable dressage of 30.7, plus 4 to add Show Jumping and a clear across country gave us 6^th place but more importantly he took everything in his stride and behaved better than many of the older horses have been known to when out at a “party”, and as such gave us plenty of confidence to take him to Moreton Morrell for their Lycetts BE Young Horse Championship qualifying class. A few genuine “baby”’ mistakes in an otherwise nice test scored 31.5, and one fence added in the Show Jumping gave us 35.5 to which nothing was added XC.

It really is a lovely feeling to take such a bold youngster out, thus far nothing seems to faze him and he genuinely loves to jump, occasionally attempting to take on whatever lays in his path, (such as the hedges around our fields at home - that just happen to be on the other side of a X-pole.....! )But the end result was, we won!! A fantastic result for his owners Ian, Bill & Jenny - who spent most of her day shaking from a combination of nerves and excitement.

Sandwiched between these two trips, was Withington Manor, a compulsory run for those of us hoping to make the European CIC** Team. In addition to taking Pie we also took Fred for the ON  and Brooke for the Intermediate. Fred ran reasonably well although a very tense dressage test put us well out of reach of being placed.

Brooke also started on Saturday with “day before” dressage, and also performed a very disappointing test, although with that wonderful thing called hindsight, I should have realised that after having to pass very close to the XC start en-route to dressage he was never likely to settle. The next morning however he fully redeemed himself by being one of only 3 horses throughout the whole day to finish on his dressage score, pulling right up the board to finish 4^th.

The important pony this day though was Pie, and having learned my lesson with Brooke, I was taking no chances in allowing him to wind up prior to his test, and ears were firmly stuffed with cotton wool for the trip over to dressage and also for the warm up as the XC course for Sunday came through the corner of the working in area. With ear plugs duly removed at the last moment we went on to perform a pretty good test, gaining several 8's for the trot work but my canter “needed greater collection” and I was a little let down by a mark of 38.6. One very unlucky pole down show jumping added 4 to this mark, but being one of just 2 in our section to get home inside the time XC helped our case greatly and we finished a respectable 7^th, with 5 of our prospective team finishing within the top 10, it was a good day for all.

Well we have a non-eventing weekend to look forwards to now, so hopefully a chance to sit down and catch some of Badminton on the telly, then next week

It’s  off to Aston le Walls and then Royal Windsor for a display of the team test, this is a great opportunity to practice this in public, as it is an entirely new concept for most of us to have to perform a dressage test accompanied by 5 other people, all together in the arena, and so a huge thank you to the organizers for allowing us the arena time.

After that its straight off to Houghton Hall for the CCI 1*/2*, and with a sizeable contingent from Sussex there should be at least one good party.....

Catch up soon. x

It was a rather mixed trip to South of England this weekend, with some unexpectedly good results and some real disappointments.

Things began with Friday afternoon dressage for Private Quigley, having his first crack at a BE100. A reasonable if slightly tight test for a mark of 30.5 left us within the top ten overnight.

It was an early return on Saturday morning for an 8.20am show jumping, one fence down added 4 before we headed out across country. PQ gave me a super round with just one genuine ‘look’ at the first of the steps down with earned him 20 penalties, but for his first step up a level we were all delighted with him.

The next in line was Pokey’s Bally Milo, who was once again in the BE100 to try and encourage him with an easy outing, putting in his usual super dressage and clear show jumping. I thought we were working along the right lines as he really pulled me around the first half of the course but once again a simple hanging log before the steps down was to prove his undoing, he really is an infuriatingly suspicious horse and we may have to think long and hard about where we go from here.

Coco has had a couple of easy weeks recently, having missed Somerley Park after having wedges fitted to his hind shoes, as he has very low heels and was becoming rather sore over his back, so with this and some new techniques to try out in the show jumping (not his strongest phase), it was always going to be something of an experimental run. A fantastic dressage test which felt much more relaxed and more swinging than of late was a great start, and a score of 23 put us in front, but our show jumping was something of a disaster with 20 to add, however some of the round was an improvement and with more work, I feel we will start to get things right. A refusal at the drop was rider error but otherwise a reasonable trip cross country.

Another early start on Sunday morning threatened to be a repeat of day one after getting just a mile out of the yard and realizing that I had forgotten the passports! A swift return to the yard soon rectified this but it was not a good omen. Our first dressage test of the day was 707 in Intermediate sec J, his first run at this level since 2007 and also his first with me. I proceeded to experience a  real ‘blonde moment’ midway through the test by completely forgetting which movement came after the shoulder in left, and coming to an impromptu halt at c to ask the judge for directions! VERY embarrassing! This rather upset our rhythm and thereafter he became even more uptight than usual and we emerged with a score of 40.5. However with the fastest double clear in our section we pulled up to finish in 2^nd place, which was a huge boost to morale all round.

Getting lost in the dressage was not a mistake I was going to make twice, although after being held up waiting for Brooke’s xc, Pie’s warm up consisted of less than 10 minutes and the test was rather less than his best, earning a score of 30.5. 16 penalties added show jumping was most out of character but he put in a good clear across country and after a few easy days of playing hookey in the field will be headed to Boomerang on Thursday for our next CIC 2* team training session.     

Next to run was Fletcher who picked up a nasty over-reach in his show jumping and was withdrawn from the cross country stage. But to finish off the day, it was Fred’s turn in ON sec P. Each time out he improves and becomes more settled and today was his best yet, 34.3 dressage but an almost calm double clear inside the time earned us a 3^rd place, one of which I was very proud for the simple reason that Fred is my own pony and I am biased!     

Well after such a busy weekend we will be having a quiet day or two before our trip to Boomerang on Thursday and then it’s back to South of England on Sunday, this time for the Ardingly Riding Club ODE, and our 4yo Tigga’s first event. Our next outing with the older boys is Withington Manor in two weeks, so until then.....Bye

It’s been a couple of weeks now since my last installment and we are now well into the swing of things. After a hectic start we had a couple of quiet weekends and used the opportunity to give our youngest pony, Tickeridge, also known as Tigga,  his first outing to a ‘proper’ party, at the local Firle Hunter Trial.

As the first horse of the day to go around it was a nice quiet way for him to get used to the idea of going out into the country alone and he was a star, after a little wiggle at the start he realized that he was there to jump and took everything in his stride, producing a lovely clear.

We also paid a visit to Pippa Funnell for a training session with Pie and Brooke (707). As always Pippa made me focus strongly on my own position and balance, thus allowing the horse to work correctly rather than trying too hard to ‘make things happen’- which in fact usually ends up restricting the movement in some way.

Our next ‘real’ event was to the beautiful Somerley Park in the New Forest, with My Friend Freddie having his first outing of the season after unfortunately being balloted from Tweseldown, and 707, both in the ON, and On A Par contesting the CIC**. Wednesday was a rather quiet day with just Pie’s trot up and dressage. After our training session earlier in the week I was feeling confident and Pie delivered a (mostly) good test, with the exception of a “fragile” medium walk and a very nice but unrequired flying change halfway through the first canter serpentine. We did score several 8's though and ended up with a respectable score of 51.7, putting us in 15^th position.

The following day began nice and early with Brooke, who’s dressage is becoming a little more settled each time, scoring 32.5. A very uncharacteristic 12 faults added in the show jumping was a shame, but a super clear well inside the time across country ended the day well for him and showed that he should be ready to tackle the intermediate next time out at South of England. Fred also performed a reasonable test with 34.5. Freddie is also a horse who worries himself a lot and is also learning to settle down a little more each time, and after being taken slowly last year having spent the previous 2 seasons out of action through injury, he is finally starting to feel stronger and much straighter, especially in his jumping. One mistake in the show jumping and a steady clear cross country was also a pleasing result for him. The highlight of the week however was Pie’s performance in the afternoon, with a super double clear finishing in 12^th place, our best placing yet at this level.

Two days later it was off to Goring and back to earth with a bump. With Fletch and Pumpkin in the ON and BE100(O) classes respectively. Both performed very nice tests with both scoring in the 20's and both show jumped well, Fletcher is feeling so much better in this phase this year and his 4 faults were definately down to rider error!

However it all went rather pear-shaped cross country with Fletch deciding on a very sudden change of direction at the first of the corners, marring an otherwise super round, and Pumpkin again having issues with a hanging log approaching the water. It seems this year he has become very suspicious of fences where he can see something in the gap beneath, as 2^nd time, after having a closer inspection, it is no problem. We can only keep working on it and try to find a solution.

Suggestions on a postcard please................

Anyway it’s a fortnight now until a very busy weekend at South of England, in the meantime we are hoping to be hosting our first outdoor show of the year here at Golden Cross, dependant of course on the wonderful British weather... I’ll let you know how it all goes. X

Firstly let me introduce myself, my name is Sam Penn and I am an event rider based at Golden Cross EC in East Sussex. I have a talented string of horses and my ultimate aim for 2009 is to be selected for the European CCI2* Team Championships in Hungary taking place in July with “On a Par”.

As I make my first entry into my diary the 2009 season has already begun, and for us, it was with a bang! A very loud one, just three days before Stilemans and unfortunately emanating from somewhere beneath the horsebox! An emergency visit from our friendly mechanic revealed that a new head gasket was required, I know nothing about the inner workings of engines but apparently it was a rather big job.

So I trundled of to Stilemans in a lorry very kindly loaned to us by our neighbours with two of my younger horses Pokey’s Bally Milo (Pumpkin) and Coco de Cara (Coco). Both performed well in both the dressage and show jumping but unfortunately both had rather too good a look at the first of the steps down at fence 11, incurring 20 penalties.

However the two older boys brightened up the weekend. On Sunday Fletch was placed 3^rd in the ON and 707 (Brooke), a new ride for me this year, coming 4^th also in ON.

After a huge effort our lorry was back on the road in time to head to Tweseldown on Thursday with On a Par (Pie) in OI. The dressage warm up looked more like a rodeo ground with lots of horses feeling a little fresh at this early stage and definitely looking forwards to a run across country.

Pie certainly knew that the fun bit was just around the corner but held it together to produce a good, if slightly tense test of 33.2. An unfortunate pole down show jumping added 4 but just 14.8 time penalties, 3^rd fastest in our section, saw us finish in 4^th place, just behind Tina Cook and Miners Frolic!.

A fantastic result for my little coloured ‘pony’. Friday was again a little disappointing with Coco and Pumpkin, after being 1^st and 2^nd after dressage and both with good performances show jumping, a stop each across country put paid to their chances, back to the drawing board there I think.

However Fletch again managed a super performance to be 10th in ON. I’m hoping that all the work we have put into his show jumping has finally started to pay off....... touchwood!

Sunday saw us return to Tweseldown, this time with my BE 90 (intro) ride Private Quigley (PQ). This 15h coloured gelding is such a fun little man to ride and put in a super performance to be 3rd.

It has been an interesting start to 2009 but I am so excited to see how the rest of the season unfolds, with the support of the team at Golden Cross and my new sponsors Rainbow Equine its onwards and upwards. Our next outing is to Somerly Park with Pie contesting the CIC2*, Brooke in the ON, with My Friend Freddie who will be having his first outing of the year, and Coco in the pre novice. Followed swiftly by a trip to Goring, with Fletch and Pumpkin. I shall keep you posted....

Sam X