Wilton Horse Trials 17th September 2015

Wilton house looked stunning in sunshine while the horse trials ran with in its estate.  The cross country courses were much the same as previous years.  The steps down, positioned where the terrain falls away, and the water jumps were definitely the toughest questions.  They were going to require brave horses, and accurate riding, and were sure to provide plenty of entertainment for the viewing public.

I had four rides throughout the day.  One at Novice level, and three Intermediates.

Spypark Ferro XS, was contesting his first Novice.  He performed a good dressage test, it did contain a few green mistakes, but showed huge promise.

He was nice and relaxed in the show jumping, and jumped very well over a technical enough course.

The plan was to take it steady around the cross country.  The first reason was because the ground was on the firmer side, and he is a big, young horse.  The second was that it was his first event at this level, and we wanted him to have plenty of time to work the more technical questions out, and take the whole experience in.

We incurred one little blip in what was a very good round.  The course designer had you coming down a set of steps, which on landing the ground ran away rapidly, here you were asked to turn across the slope and jump a skinny.  Spypark Ferro XS listened extremely well and steadied right back when we came down the steps, as I turned towards the skinny, I think he almost thought we had finished and didn’t lock on to the fence.  On our second approach, we jumped it with ease.  It was more of a frustrating error, than a naughty mistake.

Apart from this, it was a good day for him.

My Intermediate horses all tried hard in the dressage.

Duke of Axbridge had an off day in the show jumping, I’m not sure if he was struggling with the sting in the hard ground.  I took him very slowly around the cross country because of this.

Redpath Ransome thoroughly enjoyed the show, and jumped an effortless double clear.  He breezed around the show jumping, and made the cross country feel like child’s play.  He truly showed his class today and was rewarded with a good placing.

Midnight Ash was competing in his first Intermediate.  It’s a decent step up from Novice to Intermediate, and it’s a test for any horse as to how they will cope.  It’s safe to say Ash did not even notice.  With a faultless show jumping round, Ash seemed more relaxed than ever.

We set off on the cross country and Ash was brimming with confidence.  He popped every fence with ease, and was responding like a horse with twice his experience.  This horse proves with every run just how genuine he is, and that he has the best attitude towards the sport.

I thoroughly enjoyed riding him and was so pleased to find out that he was placed in his first ever Intermediate event.  What a horse!!

A great day, at a lovely event.