The last day of the second competition of Montelibretti was XC day. The boys did good! I was thrilled with them. All went clear with a handful of time faults which meant double clears for them all. Bart finished 6th in the Nations Cup 4*S and Bambi 11th. They did a very respectable 30 and 31 dressage and I couldn’t be more pleased with them.
Bambi is much more mature this season and both he and Bart managed great on the XC with a pilot who was under par with heavy strapping for a couple of cracked ribs! (from a fall from Floss in the first competition). I took Bambi steady and picked up the pace a little with Bart, planning to get him qualified for a 5*.
I liked the XC track which was educational and asked enough questions – plus the sun came out which made for a wonderful day.
The organisers were stoic and flexible in their management of the Event which saw mega amounts of rain causing a certain amount of trouble everywhere. They must have been on Plan F if not G by the time of the XC. They did a truly magnificent job to keep the show on the road when the weather was completely against them. The XC course was re-arranged to avoid the badly wet parts but in general, the ground coped well and with the SJ moved off the grass, it all went very well.
Floss did the 3*S and logged a good clear XC, having jumped clear in the SJ. I took him steady but managed to stay in 3rd place, so, a podium placing for Floss!
It was wonderful to have Jenny out here for the last three days, primarily as support for Josh but a support for me also.
Thank you to the Team back home without whom I would not be able to come to these competitions and very many thanks to Lucy Whitehead for her sterling help throughout the two weeks. Couldn’t have done it without you!
We start the long trek home at 0200 on Monday morning, feeling happy at the boys’ results. Thank you to Montelibretti for two great competitions, their friendliness and terrific management under dire circumstances
Cheers,
Bill
Posted 12th March
