Dotty was very bright this morning and we had a leisurely trot up time of 11.00am so it was all pretty relaxed. She sailed through the trot up and then we had a long wait as the CCI** was the last class to show jump this afternoon.
The show jumping caused lots of problems with only 8 clears from a class of 50 plus horses. Dotty rolled two poles, one of which was unluckily the last fence – with the course proving challenging she maintained her place of 17th which was a satisfactory finish to the competition for her.
I’m so pleased with Dotty in her career. To date she has never put a foot wrong cross country and has not incurred a single cross country fault – she loves to jump and run cross country and has a real engine which is somewhat surprising when you look at her as she’s not a conventional model of an event horse – but she has a desire to prick her ears and jump between the flags. She is a pleasure to ride and train.
Dotty will now have a much deserved holiday and will then aim to move up the grades next season, all being well, taking on Advanced/three star tracks as the season unfolds.
Janet Plant and her team have done a great job of making many improvements to the venue at Weston and the ground and courses were excellent. I am never quite sure why it doesn’t get better attendance – I expect the clash with Boekelo has a lot to do with it.
My last event of the season is now done. It has been a good season overall with lots of ups and downs (as ever!) along the way! I now have time at home to focus on producing and training the horses to ensure we come out even better prepared for 2015, but before that I have a short holiday with the children and Jenny over half term which we are all excited about.
Cheers,
Bill
Posted 12th October
